


To Save A Lost Soul 2

by JarrisShepard



Category: Babylon 5, Babylon 5 & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-09-02 00:54:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 138,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8644966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JarrisShepard/pseuds/JarrisShepard
Summary: This story takes place just after Jade goes home to Minbar with John and Delenn, after David gets home from his early training session.  now before you say anything David’s training is not finished but when I wrote the story I had not yet seen sleeping in light, and I want to stick to the accurate storyline as much as possible.  I’m putting my own spin on how the Liberation of Centauri Prime goes.  Hopefully I can pull it off.  If you will remember, from the first part, the trip to earth on the Whitestar.  John and Delenn were speaking of matters that couldn’t wait for their return to Minbar.  it was at this time that Delenn told him of the Drakh and their hold on Centauri Prime.  The epilogue will be the same as Part one, add-ons to sleeping in light..  I don’t want to change the episode just show what happened with Jade.  He has a small part anyway because it is a time for John and Delenn to say their final good-byes and for John to spend time with the friends that became his family.To GreyMouser My Beta:  You are the best.  Thank you for working on this with me and giving me Ideas that I hadn’t thought of, and making things less nuts.  You’re a god-send, and I’m grateful. Enjoy the show





	1. Chapter 1

Delenn awoke as soon as the whimpers began to filter through the intercom near the bed. She lie still, listening, hoping that Jade’s sleep would calm on its own. In the three months since their return to Minbar he had begun to sleep more peacefully. He’d also moved into a room down the hall from herself and John. David’s room was just across from Jade’s. He had decided to move to the separate room when David had returned from his Pre-Training at Ranger Headquarters. Jade wanted David’s approval so much. John had said it was a case of big brother hero worship, and that he’d grow out of it. Her train of thought broke off as she heard Jade scream out for Susan.

********************************B5***************************

He opened his eyes as he was bidden. Something was different. Mama and Daddy weren’t tied up in front of him. It was Susochke. She was being held by a Dark man he didn’t recognize. The man had a robe and hood on. Bishop stood over him as the hooded man began to cut Susochke. Jade screamed at the man to stop. Begged them to take him instead. “Don’t take Susochke away from me. Don’t take her away from Marcus! Please! I’ll do anything you want me to just don’t hurt her.” He began screaming her name as she slid down the man’s arms leaving a trail of crimson on his clothing.

********************************B5***************************

Jade awoke in his mother’s arms. She was shaking him hard.  
“Wake up, dear one, wake up. I am here.”  
He clutched her robe tightly, “Mommy,” he sobbed, “I had another dream, but it was different. They...” He trailed off. Then he looked up at her with panic in his eyes. “I wanna call Susochke! Mommy, can I? Please! I need to call her right now.”  
Delenn then knew what had happened in the dream, still she tried to find a different course of action to calm him. “It is very late on Earth now, little one. Susan is most likely deep in sleep. You know about the time difference. Where here the night has barely reached midway, Earth’s night is soon coming to an end.”  
“I know Mommy, but I need to talk to her. Please!” His last word was strained with emotion.  
“All right come on let us go and make the call so that we may get back to sleep.” Jade nodded and scrambled out of bed.  
They left Jade’s room and walked into the living area. Delenn activated the Stellar Com wall unit and called up Susan Ivanova’s number. As the call went through, Jade stepped up in front of the screen. 

********************************B5***************************

Susan Ivanova had been having a pleasant dream when an incessant beeping annoyed her out of it. She opened her eyes to find herself in Marcus’s embrace, and took a moment to once again revel in the wonder of that particular miracle. Then the Stellar Com bleeped for attention once more. She grumbled and slipped out of Marcus’s arms. ‘This better be good,’ she thought to herself. She hated to be wakened in the middle of the night. That was secretly part of the reason she agreed to be a general. She got to make her own hours, so to speak. As long as Earth wasn’t at war, she got to sleep the night through.  
She grabbed her robe off the end of the bed and made her way across the darkened room to the wall monitor. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and requested the call be transferred to the bedroom monitor. She then bade the computer, “Receive.”  
A small face filled the screen. At the look on that face she immediately dropped her air of irritation. “Dushenka, what is it?”  
“I had to call and see if you were okay. I’m sorry it’s late. Mom didn’t want me to call; she wanted me to wait until morning, but I just couldn’t. So is everything there okay?”  
“Yes, everything is fine. Are you all right?”  
He nodded though his face disagreed with his affirmative action.  
“Tell me what’s wrong, my Dushenka.” He sniffled and she noticed him trembling. She once again, silently cursed the fact that he was so far away. She wished that she could reach out and hold him. She sighed, it was unavoidable. He would be coming soon for his month long visit, and she’d be able to comfort him then. He looked behind him for a moment. Then turned and started to speak.  
“I had a bad dream, Susochke. It started like the one about my old family, but then it changed and,” his breath began to come in short gasps. Then Delenn was there kneeling beside him and she hugged him to her. “And the dream changed. I saw a different person. He was wearing a robe or a cloak or something that made it hard to tell who or what he was, and I got a cold feeling all over when I looked at him, and my family changed, Susochke, and I ... I saw you instead.” He looked on the verge of tears once again.  
“Its okay Dushenka, it was a dream. I am here, I’m fine, look.” She held her arms out to her sides as if presenting herself. “I was awakened a bit early, but that’s nothing new.”  
“Are you sure, Susochke?”  
“Of course, I am. I am fine.”  
“No, are you sure it was a dream. Lyta says that sometimes dreams can be a premo,” he hesitated for a bit stumbling over the word then changed his mind, “a look at the future. What if what I dreamed really comes true.”  
“First of all, I am sure it was a dream. I am well protected. Marcus is here and we are a stone’s throw from Earthdome. No one can get me here. Second, I think that you’re spending too much time with Lyta.”  
“Mom says that I need to develop my telepathic abilities, but I didn’t want to move away from Mommy and Dad so that I could learn to serve society like other telepaths here on Minbar. Lyta volunteered to teach me. She only comes for a week every couple months. I don’t see her that much.” Susan noted a dejected look cross his features. “But I do see her more than I see you. I miss you, Susochke.”  
“I know; and I miss you too, very much, but in a week you’ll be coming here for a month. Tell you what. I’ll prove to you, then, that I am safe. Deal?”  
“Deal.”  
“See you in a week kiddo. You better get back to bed. I know you have lessons tomorrow.”  
“Okay. Goodnight Susochke.”  
“Goodnight, my Dushenka.” With that last she cut the transmission.

********************************B5***************************

The transmission cut out and Delenn gathered Jade into her arms. “Come on, little one, lets get you back to bed.”  
“Mom,” Jade said in a quiet subdued way that she had learned he used when he was afraid to ask something.  
“What is it, my love?”  
“Can I sleep in your room again?”  
“Of course, where did you think I was taking you?”  
“My room. I want to be like David and have my own room, but some times I think that I am not ready to stay by myself. I still get scared that he’ll come back and hurt me again.”  
“I know, Jade. Remember, though, that he will never harm you physically again. He can not because he no longer exists in this life. The only way he can harm you is in your mind. The dreams you have are a way that he still harms you, and if staying with your dad and me at night keeps him from hurting you in that way. If it helps you to master your fears, then it is good for you to stay with us.”  
He didn’t answer her verbally, but he put his arms around her waist and hugged her firmly. She hugged him back and lifted him from the floor. She then proceeded to her and John’s room. She noted as she entered that John was quiet, and wondered how long he’d been awake.  
“Hi there.” He said as they entered.  
She set Jade on the floor and he climbed into the large bed with his father. “Hi Dad.”  
John gathered the boy to him, and pulled up some covers leaving both room and covers enough for Delenn to utilize. “I wondered when you were going to get here. It took an awfully long time.”  
“I know. I hadda call Susochke before I could come in here. Mom went with me and made the call for me.” He snuggled closer, “I had a bad dream about her.”  
“Well, we can talk about that tomorrow. Right now it’s late and you and your mother and I need our rest.” As if to confirm John’s statement Jade yawned deeply, and drowsily nodded his head as he rolled over into Delenn’s side. She lifted her head to give him a soft kiss on the forehead as he slid his small arm across her stomach to give her a hug. These actions had become a small ritual between them when Jade woke. It seemed to help best. He would snuggle with John while Delenn got back into bed, and they wouldn’t talk about the dreams until the next morning, if then since there were times that Jade didn’t want to talk about the nightmares. Then Delenn would kiss his forehead and he would hug her and then they would fall asleep.

********************************B5***************************

Susan killed the connection to Minbar and turned to get back into bed, only to bump into Marcus who was standing behind her. “Hey, sorry I woke you.”  
“No problem, Suz, I heard his voice and wondered what was up.” He reached out and took her in his arms. Only then did he notice her tremors. “His dream is bothering you more than you let on. Isn’t it?”  
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She said even as she nodded her head. He chuckled to himself at the gesture. Her mind still insisted on being curt with him, but her heart controlled her actions and told him all he needed to know.  
“What he said about Lyta’s warning, it’s true. My mother used to tell me about her premonitions. She said that they started as something else and then, BOOM, they turn into something that you are sure is either going to happen, or is happening at that moment.” She wrapped her arms around him. “She said that was the reason that she met Ganya and me at the hospital when I broke my arm on the playground at school. She had a dream about it, and it was so detailed that she knew instantly what hospital and when to be there. She didn’t try to stop it, she couldn’t with the psi-corps around. All she could do was be there for me.”  
“Well, I suppose that we will just have to wait and see what happens. I personally think that you have a good chance that it was nothing more than Jade’s subconscious bringing forth his worries, or it’s his way of coping with the long separation. Either way, I wouldn’t worry about it now. I think we, my dear, should get back in bed until that blasted alarm of yours decides to go off. What do you think?”  
“I couldn’t agree more.”  
With that said Marcus bent and scooped her up off the floor and she let out a shriek as he took her back to their bed.

********************************B5***************************

Jade awoke to John’s alarm going off. He stretched and sat up, rubbing his gray-blue eyes as he did so. As he looked around he saw that John hadn’t quite awakened yet, so he tapped his father’s shoulder softly. “Dad, your alarm is going off.” He whispered so he wouldn’t wake his mom. “Dad, it’s time for you to get up.”  
“John,” Delenn reached over Jade and poked John in the ribs, “turn off that horrible thing.”  
“Mmmph, huh,” it took a second for him to realize what she meant, “oh right. Computer shut off the alarm.” The racket ended abruptly. John sat up as Jade climbed over him. He grabbed the little boy, prepared to hug him good morning, and he felt Jade’s body go rigid. He immediately let loose of his son. “I’m sorry Pal, I didn’t mean to scare you.”  
Jade took a deep breath, “It’s okay, Dad. I just forgot for a minute that I was safe. I’m sorry that I still do that sometimes. I know in my heart that you will never hurt me.”  
John smiled at him and pulled him close. “I’m glad to hear you say that.” Then a mischievous look glinted in his eye that, Jade knew from experience, meant run for your life, or get tickled until you can’t breath. Jade squirmed, and ran when he broke free.  
“Can’t catch me.” Then from the doorway he boldly turned and stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry at John. Who decided that, that single gesture deserved a good chase. As Jade turned to run once more, John bolted after him. Delenn groaned and decided that it was hopeless to try to sleep anymore. Jade turned left as he entered the hall, since going right meant a dead end on the veranda. He intended to head for either his room or David’s. He only got halfway there. John caught him and tickled him until he begged for mercy. The racket Jade created while being ticklishly tortured roused David from his room.  
“Uhgh, come on you guys. I don’t have class for another hour and a half. The least you can do is let me sleep for another forty-five minutes.” His voice was groggy with sleep.  
Jade looked at John, who nodded, “Okay we’ll be quiet at least while we are in this part of the house. Go on and get dressed, Jade. I’ll meet you in the den in a bit.”  
Jade nodded and went to his room. He opened the door and entered. “Lights please.”  
The room became illuminated. Against the wall opposite the door was his dresser, and desk. His homework, finished, sat atop it. Above the desk was a window overlooking the crystalline buildings of Tuzanor. His bed was to the right of the door near the right hand wall, on the other side of which was John and Delenn’s room. It wasn’t a large bed, but he liked it, for now.  
Above it, on a peg hung the baseball cap that John had given him, between the bed and the door stood his nightstand. On top of the stand were two photos. One was a portrait of him sitting in Susan’s lap. A second photo was a family picture of John, Delenn, and David with Jade himself sitting between John and Delenn, and David standing behind him. Also a small night-crystal, which glowed with an inner light when the room was dark, and a music reader with a data crystal in the slot. Atop the dresser were more photos. One of Danny and Liz and Jessie Ann. Another was of David and him with their grandparents. It had been taken when Nancy and David, the elder, had come to visit last month after David returned home from training.  
Shelves lined the right wall of the room, and along the wall the door was on. One shelf was reserved for his school books. He looked them over until he found the one he was looking for. He took his reading text to his desk. Lining the shelves were books that John and Delenn had ordered for him. Some of the storybooks were from Earth, and some were from Minbar. His closet was on the wall opposite from where his bed sat. He went to the doors and slid them apart. It was a large walk in closet. His small collection of clothes didn’t take up much space, so the rest was used as a storage room for most of his toys. He looked over the outfits hanging on the right wall. Choosing a comfortable set, he left the closet and dressed himself. He then made his bed, grabbed his book and his homework off the desk, and left the room. He turned left and walked into the den.  
The den was a rounded room, to cause a feeling of comfortable intimacy. The four foot out from the wall, as one entered, was raised around three-fourths of the room. Two soft steps led to a lower crew-pit like area. A small collection of matched furniture was nestled near the wall monitor. Upon the raised portions of the floor sat John’s desk, facing the opposite wall and Delenn’s own desk, which faced his. Jade had asked his dad, shortly after arriving on Minbar, why their desks were on opposite sides of the room. John’s reply had been that when they’d been closer together his documents sometimes ended up on her desk when he was in a hurry to get somewhere and tossed them on the nearest surface. Jade had laughed good and hard at the look his mother had given.  
There were two sets of stairs. One leading down to the gardens was across from the hall Jade was in. The other, leading to the third floor of the house, was behind John’s Desk. The medical facilities and guest rooms were up there. Another door half-way between Delenn’s desk and the stairs going down led to the kitchen and a small breakfast nook.  
He descended the two subtle steps to the lower floor and crossed to the couch, which faced John’s desk as well as a set of arm chairs, and sat perpendicular to the wall monitor. Jade climbed onto the couch and opened his reading text. He flipped to his lesson from the night before and began to sound out the words.  
After a little while John entered the room and crossed to his desk to gather his work for the day. Jade went back to his task and read part of the text that had been assigned him. When he was about midway through the text John came over and took the book out of his hands. Jade, who’d been engrossed in the work, started and looked up. “Hey I was reading that.”  
John chuckled, “I know that, but its early in the morning you can finish when Tannier gets here to give you your lessons. Right now, you and I are missing Reebo and Zooty.”  
Jade took back the book. “That’s okay Dad, I wanna read some more.”  
John shook his head at Jade’s determination. He had only been taking lessons for six weeks and he loved it. Jade had, for the first month, never missed the morning episode of “Reebo and Zooty.” He had loved sitting with John watching something they both liked. Now all he wanted to do was read, or do his other lessons. John couldn’t blame him though. He had never had the opportunity to go to school and learn. He was really very proud that the little guy was so enthusiastic. ‘Lord knows, David never was.’ He thought. “Well, I guess, I should let you read then.”  
“You wanna hear me. I’m gettin’ really good.”  
“You bet, Pal. What are we reading today?”  
“Tannier assigned a chapter out of the Chronicles of Valen,” Jade made a disgusted face, “and a chapter out of the Velveteen Rabbit.” He then whispered conspiratorially. “Just between you and me I like the Rabbit story better.”  
John suppressed a laugh at that statement. He could understand where Jade was coming from. The stories of Valen were a bit of a stretch for Jade. John resolved to speak with Delenn about it. He didn’t think Jade was ready for the structured reading that the Chronicles of Valen presented. Although he thought Jade might enjoy them when he got a little older.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn, fresh from the shower, and dressed according to the day’s schedule entered the den. John and Jade sat together on the couch, and Jade was reading aloud to John from an Earth children’s book. She remembered reading that story to David over and over when he was small. She stood in the door for a moment and listened to Jade’s halting progress reading the story. She smiled as John helped him to sound out one particularly long word.  
“Good job.” He complimented when Jade had reread the word. She walked into the room, crossing to them.  
“Yes, Jade, a very good job. You are learning quickly.”  
“I like learning. I get to do stuff that is new and fun.” He turned back to his book.  
John seized the opportunity, “Delenn, can I talk to you for a minute.”  
“I suppose, since I have nothing more pressing to deal with.” She flashed that special smile she used when teasing him.  
He shook his head, and taking her hand led her over to his desk. “Jade tells me that Tannier has him reading from the Chronicles of Valen. Don’t you think that is a little advanced for him. He is barely getting the hang of The Velveteen Rabbit. How is he possibly going to understand Valen’s prophecies?”  
“He cannot. I didn’t study Valen’s prophecies until I had been in Temple for a number of years. The Chronicles of Valen however are not his prophecies the Chronicles are, just that, a chronicle of his deeds. His actions during the Great War. Stories of the battles and negotiations he conducted.”  
“Oh. In the Chronicles what stories are first?”  
“They are told in the sequence that they happened. His negotiations with the warrior caste to get them to accept his gift, which we know is Babylon 4, then his work to establish the Rangers, and then his actions during the battles of the war.”  
“No wonder he thought it was dull. He has been reading about politics.”  
“He is having the same reaction as I did at his age. I hated the political stories. I wanted action; something to keep my attention. It was always easier to skip the political stories.”  
John’s mouth hung agape. Never had he pictured his wife not totally engrossed in the prophecies and legends of Valen.  
“I didn’t truly appreciate them until I got older and became interested in politics myself. I actually went back and reread the Chronicles many times, and they were much more fulfilling when I was older. Perhaps we should instruct Tannier to concentrate on those stories that hold his attention.”  
“Good idea, but shouldn’t he stick to the Minbari teaching tradition? This is the only time I have ever heard Jade express a lack of enthusiasm for learning. I think, now that I know more about it, that we should leave it be. He is going to be having lessons for quite a while yet, and not all of them are going to be fun and games. Sometimes he will have dull important lessons that he will have to learn anyway. Isn’t it best he learn that now.”  
“Yes, I believe that myself, I was just awaiting your decision on the matter.” She teased him.  
Jade walked over and looked at them for a moment. “Dad, has it been forty-five minutes yet?”  
“Forty-five minutes from when, Pal?”  
“From when David asked us to let him sleep for forty-five more minutes.”  
“Oh, yeah it’s been forty-five minutes.” John looked the boy up and down. “Yes, you can go and wake him up.”  
Jade flashed a mischievous smile and was off running before John could say anything about it. He opened David’s door and peered into the room, which was not nearly as neat as Jade’s. To his left stood the dresser. The top of it was cluttered with small figures and a set of models that David had constructed by himself, or with John’s help. His arm chair was covered with clothing, clean or dirty Jade couldn’t tell. His desk was on the far left wall with his computer terminal linked to his personal wall monitor. He had an office chair sitting at the desk. David’s bed was on the far right wall facing the wall monitor. In short, it was just about the coolest room Jade had ever seen. The bed was huge to Jade’s small perception. David was huddled in the middle of the bed with the covers up to his chin. Jade grinned wickedly and ran for the bed. He jumped up in the middle of David’s bed and landed partially on David.

********************************B5***************************

John and Delenn listened quietly after Jade ran from the room. They didn’t wait long; though, until they heard, “Hey, get off my bed!”  
John chuckled, “The little sneak, he’s looking for a world of trouble if he keeps that up.”  
“I just hope that David does not scare him. We have not had any problems with him hiding for almost a month. I would hate to see a reoccurrence of his fear.”  
“Don’t worry. I told David to go easy on the kid.” He gave a short laugh. “He asked me if I thought he was stupid, and said that we worry too much.”

********************************B5***************************

“Jade, I have asked you repeatedly to stop jumping in the middle of my bed to wake me up. All you have to do is stick your head in here and say, ‘David its time to get up.’ I promise I’ll get up.”  
“I know that, but this is way more fun.”  
“How can I get you to stop doing it though? Without bodily harm being inflicted, and without having to scare the life out of you.”  
Jade thought for a bit. Then his eyes gleamed, “I made a bet with Dad that I could make you mad enough to chase me through the house. If I do, he has to take two whole days off to spend time with me before I go to Susochke’s. He doesn’t think that you are capable of getting mad at me. Help me win the bet and I’ll stop.”  
“Kid brother, you have got yourself a deal.” Jade beamed with joy.  
“Thanks, David.”  
“So when do you want to do this?” .  
“As soon as possible I leave for Susochke’s in five days.” Jade illustrated the point by sticking his spread-fingered hand near David’s face  
“Okay then, get ready to run.” David got up and helped Jade out of the bed. “GET OUT OF MY ROOM.”  
Jade smiled and ran.

********************************B5***************************

John looked up as Jade ran through the room with David, still in his pajamas, hot on his heels. Delenn had returned to their room to get some documents she’d forgotten.  
“YOU ARE SUCH A PEST! GET BACK HERE. I OWE YOU FOR THAT STUNT.”  
John stood, “I’ll be damned. He actually did it.”  
“Help!”  
“Damn it. DAVID,” John ran after them. By the time he caught up Jade was writhing on the floor. David was tickling him with no mercy.  
“Stop David, STOP, I...I promise...hahahaha...I won’t do it......again....stop.”  
“OKAY,” John called over the racket, “That’s enough, David let him up. He has been sufficiently paid back I think.”  
“Fine, the spoiled brat, I give, but he had better stop jumping on me in the morning.”  
Jade, now freed, wrapped his arms around John, who lifted him off the floor while speaking to David, “Why don’t you go get dressed. I think I need to have a talk with your brother.”  
David, acting as if he had calmed, since he had not actually been mad, said, “Okay, but be sure you get him to stop.”  
“Consider it stopped.” David walked around behind John, back toward his room. As he passed behind, Jade gave him a thumbs up. David smiled and walked on.

********************************B5***************************

John returned to the den carrying Jade. “Kid, you have certainly become very brave over the past month.”  
“I know that you and David won’t hurt me, Dad. He was mad, but all he did was tickle me. And now you’re mad, but all you are doing is talking to me. I know that you won’t hurt me.”  
“You also won our bet.”  
Jade smiled, “I guess so. I hadn’t even thought about it.”  
“Liar. You and I both know that you and David staged that little scene.”  
Jade looked chagrined. “How did you know?”  
“Because, David is even tempered, like Delenn, and he knows how scared you get when people yell.”  
“Okay, you got us, but you still owe me two whole days.”  
“Oh, do I? He wasn’t actually mad enough to chase you. What did you promise him for that little show?”  
“I promised to stop jumping up in the middle of his bed in the morning. He agreed that he would help me win the bet.”  
“Well, it looks like you went through a lot of negotiations, so I guess I can take a couple vacation days with you.”  
Jade hugged John’s neck. “Thanks Dad. Are we gonna have a lot of fun? Could you teach me to play baseball? And could we play some video games? And we could watch Reebo and Zooty together.”  
“Yeah, we can do all those things, after your lessons. Hey, don’t look so down. I’ll give Tannier a little vacation and teach you to read myself. It won’t take the whole day Pal.”  
“Okay, Dad, but you gotta promise that we’ll do the fun stuff too.”

********************************B5***************************

John and Delenn sat with their sons at breakfast. Jade had calmed some what since sitting at the table. Delenn had thought he would burst with excitement when he told her that John was going to take a two day vacation to spend time with him. She had looked at John with skepticism. He just flashed a lopsided grin at her. That was about all the confirmation he was going to give her. Then David had entered with an armful of school books and his bag slung over a shoulder.  
“Yeah, Dad’s taking off to play baseball and go exploring and watch Reebo and Zooty. In general, he’s gonna goof off.”  
“Not exactly, I am going to conduct Jade’s morning lessons on both days. I don’t think that is going to be a cake and coffee run at all.”  
“Somehow, I believe you are right.” Delenn said, watching Jade bounce with anticipation. “Come, let us sit and have our breakfast.”  
That had been fifteen minutes ago, and he was only now calmed enough to eat his meal.  
“David, what are you gonna do today after you get out of class?” Jade asked around a mouthful of oatmeal.  
“Not sure kiddo, why?”  
“I thought maybe we could do something. Just me and you.”  
“Like what?”  
Jade shrugged, “I dunno, whatever you want.”  
“Well, we’ll see, okay. It depends on how much homework I have to do. If I don’t have too much maybe you can read to me or something.”  
Jade nodded satisfied.  
Delenn smiled a maternal smile as she listened to her sons. John noticed it, and decided it was one of the most beautiful sites in the galaxy when she looked like that.  
“Hey, love,” he said to her, “what’s your schedule for today?”  
“I have a Ranger meeting...” Jade groaned at the mention of a meeting, and she sent him a pointed look before continuing. “...this afternoon. Most of the morning I will use to finish the paperwork left from the new trade agreements between the Drazi and Pak’ma’ra. Are you thinking of taking today for one of your vacation days?”  
“No I thought I’d wait until the two days before we take Jade to Susan’s.”  
“Then why ask about my schedule?”  
“Well I figured that if you were around here this morning I could leave a message with you for Tannier. Just to let him know that the last two days Jade is here on Minbar I will be taking over his lessons.”  
“I am sure I can do that for you. My meeting is not until later in the afternoon.”  
“Mom, is Dad cooking dinner again tonight?” The look of distaste on Jade’s face set David to laughing.  
“He’s learning way too fast that Dad’s cooking is better left alone.”  
“No, Jade, I will not be gone long. My meeting is just an update on some of the things that the Rangers are doing at present.”  
“So you’ll be home early.”  
She reached over and lightly resting the tips of her fingers under his chin and pulled his face to hers until their foreheads met. “Of course, little one. I will be home before it is time to ‘tuck you into bed’ as your father says.” She pretended not to notice as Jade flinched with her use of the word father.  
“Good.”  
Abruptly David stood, “Well I better go if I’m not going to be late.”  
“Have a good day, son.” John looked up from his meal and coffee.  
“See you at dinner,” Delenn said as she stood to hug him and straighten his collar.  
“Bye,” Jade uttered between bites.  
All this was said as David grabbed his books from the floor beside his chair, and left.  
Tannier entered the room from the door where David had disappeared.  
“Hey, you’re early,” Said Jade indignantly.  
“Yes, I am, but I should think that the earlier we start; the earlier we finish.”  
“Whatever you say.” Jade hugged John and said he’d see Delenn later, then departed the room with Tannier.

********************************B5***************************

“Do you know where they are going to study today?”  
“No, Anla-shok Tannier rarely tells me where they go during the time of teaching. I suspect that Tannier takes him to a different spot everyday. The same as he did with David.”  
“Don’t you worry about him?” John asked.  
“Not really. Tannier never let anything happen to David when he was teaching him. I do not think that he would let anything happen to Jade either. He takes his positions very seriously.”  
“Don’t I know it. Back when he was a house guard, I thought he was going to drive me nuts.”  
“Yes, he did get underfoot quite a bit. Like I said he takes his position seriously. Especially now that he is a bodyguard and teacher for our youngest son. Do not worry, John, if he was going to take Jade anywhere that there might be a risk, he would ask us first.”  
“I suppose you’re right.” He glanced at the clock. “Ooh, jeez, I’m gonna be late. See you at dinner.”  
“Wouldn’t miss it.” Delenn then stood and kissed him thoroughly. He then walked out the door. She cleaned off the table and went to her desk to begin the paperwork piled there.


	2. Chapter 2

********************************B5***************************

Jade sat on a dry blanket, which had been spread over the damp boulders, behind one of the waterfalls surrounding the Temple Of Valen in the center of Tuzanor. He listened attentively, if a bit distracted by the damp surroundings, as Tannier instructed him, at Jade’s behest, on the concept of gravity and how it is created artificially on a starship .  
Jade frequently interrupted with questions. Tannier had, at first, found the constant interruptions vexing, but had grown used to, and now even enticed them out of the curious boy. Around ten-hundred Tannier called a halt to the lesson and walked Jade back to the house. Jade was disappointed to be leaving the beautiful waterfall, but followed with little complaint. He decided to show the place to John on one of their days together. Tannier told Jade to get into some dry clothes, and bade him to meet him back in the house gardens.   
When the two of them, instructor and pupil, got to the gardens they sat down on a bench and began the next set of lessons. Jade began to read aloud from the Chronicles Of Valen once again. Finally at midday Tannier called it a day, and the two of them reentered the house. Jade immediately went upstairs to put his books away. He tiptoed through the den so he wouldn’t disturb his mother’s concentration. He needn’t have bothered though because Delenn felt his presence. She looked up intending to ask if he’d had a pleasant morning, but when she saw how hard he was trying to be quiet she smiled and turned back to her work.  
Jade walked into his room and set his books on the desk. He pulled his homework out and began working on it. It didn’t take him long to finish the work. When he had, he walked into the closet and took down his two newest playthings, his glove and baseball. John had given them to him only a week before. Jade sat on his bed and looked at them for a little while. He brought first the mitt up to his face and breathed deeply the scent of leather. He then brought the ball up and smelled the different, but still leathery scent. He ran his fingers along the strings holding the horsehide together. He remembered his astonished reaction when John had called the ball horsehide. He had in fact almost refused to play with it, but John had assured him that it wasn’t really made from a horse. He explained that it was called that for traditional reasons. Since the first baseballs had been real horse hide. Jade didn’t like to think that an animal as beautiful as Tranquil Moon could have been used to make a ball.  
Jade came out of his reverie, and set the glove and ball on his nightstand behind the pictures. He then tiptoed his way back to the den, and sat down at John’s desk. He booted up the computer terminal and opened his game file. John had set it up for him after they had gotten him settled in on Minbar. Jade opened one of the games, turned off the sound and began playing it quietly. Delenn continued to work diligently on finishing the paperwork.

********************************B5***************************

John sat in council all morning with the representatives of the member worlds of the Alliance. At midday he went to his office and had lunch. Then it was back to the grind with the meetings he had scheduled.  
David sat attentively in class, whilst across the city Jade sat behind a waterfall, and wondered if Tannier had taken Jade to a site as interesting as he’d shown David during his own young learning experience. He hoped so. It had made the schooling easier.

********************************B5***************************

Jade played the game for about thirty minutes, until his stomach growled with hunger. He exited the game and shut off the computer. That done, he walked softly over to where Delenn sat at her desk, engrossed in her work.  
“Mom?”  
“Yes, Jade, what is it?” Her calm voice was distracted.  
“I hate to bug you now, but well,” his stomach growled again, “its after lunch and I’m getting hungry.”  
“I know. I am hungry too.” She reached over to gently rub his loudly, growling tummy, “I am almost done here. I have one more paper to go over and then we can have something together.”  
“Okay, is it going to bother you if I watch the monitor? I’ll turn the volume all the way off.”  
“That will be fine, and just put it on a low setting, so that you can hear it. You don’t have to mute it.”  
“Thanks.”  
He walked to the lowered circle and said quietly, “Monitor on. Volume low setting, find the A.C.M.E. cartoon channel.”   
Delenn finished a short time later just as she had said she would. She set the papers aside, and stood to stretch. She then looked at Jade lying on the couch engrossed in the ancient earth cartoons. At the moment the Coyote was careening wildly around the desert on an acme rocket; chasing the beep beeping roadrunner. Jade giggled as the rocket stalled just as it flew over a cliff. The coyote hit bottom with a puff of smoke. Jade burst out laughing, then quickly looked around at her desk apologetically. When he saw she wasn’t there he began to frantically search the room. She moved to his side and turned him to face her.  
Lifting his chin with the tips of her fingers, she reassured him. “Do not worry, I just finished. Are you ready to get some lunch?”  
He nodded, “Mmm hmm.”  
“Well then shall we go?” She took his hand and led him down the stairs.

********************************B5***************************

Tannier was in the kitchen when they emerged from the stairwell. He had been busy preparing lunch for the two of them. Delenn bowed toward him as they took their seats. Tannier brought their plates to them. She gave him John’s message, and he took his leave of them for his own lunch break.  
Delenn and Jade had a calm conversation over their meal. Delenn asked him about his morning. He told her about the waterfall as they cleaned the table and dishes together. Jade was interrupted from their clean up conversation by yawns a few times, and Delenn suggested they go back upstairs and relax until Tannier returned. Jade walked slowly beside her and finally Delenn just lifted him off the floor and carried him the rest of the way. For his part he just hugged her closely. She got them both into the den, and reclined with Jade nestled between her body and the back of the couch. She turned the monitor on to a cartoon station while Jade yawned and snuggled into her side. She watched the cartoons with him smiling every so often at the antics of the characters. Jade stayed awake long enough to watch two cartoons the whole way through. During the third he dozed off about a quarter of the way through it. In his sleep, he draped his arm across his mother and sighed. Delenn stroked the soft dark hair out of his face, and changed the channel to watch something more adult. She settled on ISN.

********************************B5***************************

Tannier showed up about forty-five minutes later. Jade was still asleep lying half atop Delenn with his face pillowed on her stomach. When Tannier walked in she eased out from under Jade and lifted him into her arms.  
“I am going to change for my meeting, Tannier, I will leave Jade on the bed in my room.”  
“Yes, Entil’zha, I will guard the house while he sleeps. Is there anything you wish him to do this afternoon? Any lessons I should teach?”  
“No just let him play this afternoon, same as usual. He needs to work off some of the excess energy he gains from these naps.”  
“Of course, I just thought that perhaps it is time he started to learn the basics of self-defense.”  
“No not yet. He has endured so much violence that he may mistake the gesture. I think that perhaps I will ask Susan Ivanova to teach him self-defense. She knows him well and I think that she will judge better than most others when he is ready to learn it.”  
“I understand.”  
“Good, just relax with him Tannier. He likes you very much, but if you get too intense with him, you could frighten him. Let him get used to you.”  
“I will, Entil’zha. Thank you.” He was amazed by her insight into the apprehension he was feeling toward her young son.  
Delenn nodded and walked down the hall to her and John’s room. She entered, letting the door close behind her and lay Jade on the bed. She pulled a light blanket up to cover him and entered the bathroom to change into the robes of Entil’zha.  
She emerged eight minutes later ready to go. Jade had curled up around himself under the blanket. She walked to his side and sat on the bed. He twitched in his sleep as the mattress shifted with her added weight. She set her hands upon his back and rubbed in circular soothing motions. He slowly opened his eyes, “Thanks for waking me. I was starting to have a bad dream.”  
“I know, come here little one.” She held her arms out to him, and he practically leaped into her embrace. She hugged him tightly to her. His arms were holding her tightly back. She heard him sniffle a little. “Hey, do not cry. I will have a large wet tear stain during the meeting. We can not have that can we?”   
He smiled up at her. “No, the other Rangers might wonder where you had been.”  
“Come, Tannier is waiting in the other room.”   
“Mom, are you going to the Temple of Valen?”  
“Yes I am.” She replied to his question as she took his hand and they walked down the hall.  
“Can I go too?”  
“I am going to a meeting. I told you that this morning. I can not take you in the meeting with me.”  
“I know, and I don’t want to go to the meeting. I want to go to the Temple. I wanna walk around in there and explore. Please Mom, please!” He was giving her his best puppy dog face, complete with big sad eyes.  
“Jade we have gone over this before. I cannot leave you unattended in the Temple of Valen.”  
A dejected look occupied the spot where his face was moments before, as his eyes fell to the ground. Delenn put her fingers under his chin and lifted his gaze to her own. “Jade, your father will be home in a little while, and the two of you can do something together. I have a meeting that, if you keep this up, I am going to be late for. I can not take you with me.”  
He sighed heavily and nodded, “Okay, Mom.” He plopped down onto the couch.  
“David should be home any minute. Get him to take you exploring.”  
Jade nodded silently. Delenn hated telling him no. She knew part of the reason was that he didn’t like to stay alone at the house. Even with Tannier there. Maybe especially with Tannier there. He was still getting used to the Minbari Ranger after all. Still she couldn’t take him with her everywhere she went. He had to learn sometime and now was better than later.  
“I will see you in a little while, Jade. We can read some more tonight. I will teach you out of my untranslated version of Valen’s Chronicles.” He got up and hugged her. She felt his misery through the hug.  
She then kissed his forehead and left the room. He re-plopped onto the couch and sat with his head resting heavily on the arm of it. He wasn’t even interested in the cartoons on the screen.  
“Come, small one, let us go outside into the garden.”  
“No.” Tannier watched him for a moment.  
“Come on, lets go and do something fun, you can teach me a game or something.”  
“I said no.” Tannier tried once more.  
“Jade it does you no good to sulk. Let us go and do something that is not a waste of our time.”  
Jade looked up at him, “I-said-no. Just go away and leave me alone.”  
Tannier looked as if he was going to try again, but Jade got up and went to sit in John’s desk chair. He pulled the chair up to the desk and lay his head on his arms.  
Tannier gave up then, and stood at the entrance to the stairs.

********************************B5***************************

David entered the den to find a solemn atmosphere. ‘Man oh man, what happened now.’  
“Hey what’s up?” He asked Jade, who still sat in John’s chair.  
“Nothing.” Jade didn’t sound all that happy.  
“What’s with him, Tannier?”  
“He is disappointed. He wanted to go to the Temple with your Mother and she said no, since there is a meeting.”  
“Oh I see.”  
“I tried to get him to go outside and play. I even told him that sulking was a waste of time.”  
“Didn’t work any better on him than it did on me, did it?”  
“No, it didn’t. Actually I think it had less success on him.”  
David chuckled. “Told you it wouldn’t work. Let me handle the kid. I’ll get him outside.”  
David then walked across the room and into the hallway. He entered his room and tossed his books on the desk, checked his messages and left again within about ten minutes.

********************************B5***************************

As he reentered the den the scene was the same. Jade was in their dad’s chair, and Tannier was standing guard duty at the door.  
“Hey Jade, lets go outside and see what we can get into.”  
“No thanks.”  
“Okay, how about I take you for a ride in my transport?”  
“Not interested.”  
“What about some baseball?”  
“No.”  
“Tree climbing?”  
“No.”  
“Water fight?”  
“No.”  
“What do you want to do?”  
“I’m doing it.”  
“Okay, that’s it.” David went over to Jade and pulled the chair away from the desk. “We’re going outside to play.” He lifted Jade to his shoulder and pinned the boys kicking legs with his hands. Jade dangled over his shoulder.  
“Let go, David. Put me down!”  
“No. I said we are going outside and that’s what we’re gonna do.”  
Jade let go with a piercing scream. Followed by, “PUT ME DOWN!!!!” He struggled against David’s hold on his legs and curled his right hand into a fist while his jaw tightened.  
Tannier looked torn between action and inaction.  
“Don’t interfere, Ranger Tannier.” David had given an order. The young man’s voice was edged with anger, and Tannier felt it safe to let them be. He moved from his place in front of the stairs and let David pass.

********************************B5***************************

David walked down stairs and through the hallways passing the veranda and the indoor garden. He went out the front of the house and to the outdoor garden that had the stream running through it. He made as if to throw Jade into the stream.  
“NO DON’T, HELP HELLLLLPPPPP!!! LET GO OF ME!!!!! DAVID,” the protests died as David set Jade on his feet.  
“Now will you listen to reason.” David was very exasperated by this time.  
“Why should I, you were gonna throw me in the water? I can’t swim so good yet, you know that.” Jade said shaken by David’s actions.  
“Yeah, so, that stream wouldn’t even come all the way to your waist. Jade you have to stop acting like its the end of the world just because you don’t get your way. Mom has to go to these meetings, and you can’t go along. That’s just the way it is. Dad has to do the same thing. There is no way around it. You have to see that they have important jobs and they are required to fulfill certain obligations to the other governments.”  
“Why? Why can’t they just say they have to stay home. Why can’t she take me with her? I can stand outside the door, guard or something, or even go exploring in the Temple. I wouldn’t touch anything.”  
“Maybe not, but you might explore your way into a place that you’re not supposed to see. Then you’d be in big trouble.”  
“How can I protect her if she leaves me behind all the time?”  
David was taken slightly aback by the statement. “Why would you need to protect her?”  
“Because I don’t want her to go away again. What if she goes away because I’m not there?”  
David sat beside Jade and pulled his small brother onto his lap. “Kid, she’s at a Ranger meeting. There are probably dozens of Anla-shok with her. She is Entil’zha, and the Rangers would never let anything happen to her.”  
“How do you know that?”  
“Oh, please, I’ve lived my whole life like this. She’ll be fine.”  
“What about Dad?”  
“What about him?”  
“What if he goes away? Like he told Susochke and me and Marcus he was gonna have to go away. I don’t want them to go away. What would happen to me and to you?”  
“Well, I think you are overreacting a bit, but if anything happened to them I would go to live with Gramma and Grampa. You, however, would go to live with Aunt Susan and Uncle Marcus.”  
“Why?”  
“Because they are your hold-parents. When she became your hold mother, she promised that if anything were to ever happen to Mom and Dad, she would care for you as if you were her very own child.”  
“She had to promise all that.”  
“Yes, she did, and she promised it without hesitation. What made you think of this anyway?”  
“I had a bad dream when I fell asleep after lunch. I dreamt that Mom and Dad were in great danger. I got scared. That’s why I wanted to go with Mom so bad.”  
“Don’t worry so much, you’ll make yourself sick.”  
“I can’t help it.”  
“I know you can’t, but you can try harder to not worry so much.”  
They sat in silence for a long time after that. Both watching the water flow past them. When David remembered something that his Mother had always said to his father.  
“You know, Mom has a saying that I think just might help you. It goes, ‘Even if I do not see you again in this life. I will see you in a little while, in the Place Where No Shadows Fall.’ Kind of like saying I’ll meet you on the other side.”  
“I like that, David. It does help some.”  
Jade looked to David like he was in higher spirits. “So how about a game of hide and seek.”  
“No way you run too fast.”  
“Yeah, but you cheat by using your telepathy to stay hidden. So, it should be even.”   
“Okay, but your it first.”  
“Deal. I’ll even give you a minute long head start. Find a good place to hide. Ready, Go.” He hit the timer on his watch simultaneously with the word go.  
Jade took off like a shot. He ran for the stones that David had shown him to use to get across the stream. He crossed the stream with little trouble and headed for a stand of Oak Trees, which had been transplanted here from the farm back on Earth. Jade reached the trees with 15 seconds to spare. He found the tallest tree and began climbing it. Once he got about eight foot up the branches began to intertwine and created the perfect hiding place. He’d found the spot the last time that he and David had played Hide and Seek. Jade lie down into the dip made by three large branches. They were perfectly shaped. The lower branch providing a spot to lie down, and the other two on either side to prevent anyone from seeing him.

********************************B5***************************

David waited for the entire minute before turning around and looking for some sort of trail left by Jade. If he was ever asked, David would admit that he hated this game. Had hated it since he was a little kid. But when he played with Jade the enthusiasm his brother gave off was more than enough to make up for the fact that he hated the game. Plus, with Jade’s abilities anything could and, usually, did happen.  
He took off in the direction of the stepping stones because he had heard Jade using them to cross the stream. That meant he was hiding in one of two places. Either the small grove of trees, or the Maze. David headed for the grove. He doubted Jade would be so obvious as the Maze, an exact replica of the one aboard Babylon 5. There were a lot more places to hide in the grove even though there weren’t very many trees in it.

********************************B5***************************

John came home to find the house empty except for Tannier. “Where is everyone?”  
“David took Jade outside, Mr. President. I believe they were headed for the outer garden.”  
“You didn’t go with them?”  
“I was told not to interfere.”  
“BY WHOM?”  
“By David, sir.”  
“Why did he tell you to stay here and not interfere? What is going on?”  
“Jade was sulking and, I think, David believed it was over something unworthy of sulking. He took Jade out to speak with him and resolve the matter.”  
“Oh. I better go have a look anyway. Where did they go?”  
Tannier smiled, the president knew him well. Of course he had followed, just to make sure his two charges didn’t get themselves into too much trouble. “David took his brother down to the stream. When I left them they were deep in conversation. If I were you I would tread softly. David wanted to speak to Jade and resolve the earlier problem.”  
“What earlier problem?”  
“Jade was upset that Entil’zha would not allow him to accompany her to the Temple of Valen. He refused to do anything but sit and sulk. He wouldn’t even acknowledge David at first. Until David had had enough and hoisted the boy over a shoulder. He acted as if he were going to throw Jade into the stream to get his attention.”  
“He didn’t.”  
“He did, sir. I didn’t approve, at first, and was about to stop it all when Jade abruptly gave up and started talking to David. David had expertly manipulated the boy into telling him what was bothering him. It was then that I left them.”  
“Thanks Tannier, I’ll go out there and see what my boys are up to now. Don’t worry if they are still talking...I won’t interrupt.” He turned back, “I guess you’re off duty now, go relax, don’t worry about dinner or anything. We’ll take care of it.”  
He left the house and walked toward the spot Tannier had told him to look for. He got there just in time to see Jade plummet into the stream.

********************************B5***************************

Jade was having a hard time lying still, the bark of the tree had started to poke him in the back making him squirm and wriggle to find a comfortable position. That movement was how David spotted him. He began to slowly climb the tree. Hoping all the while that he could get halfway to Jade before the sneak spotted him. He almost got his wish. He was just under halfway to the uncomfortable child when his foot slipped and he swore trying to regain his balance.  
Jade sat up and looked directly at David. He then stood and began climbing further out toward the end of the branch using the ones on either side to steady himself. David, meanwhile, had regained his balance and was climbing after Jade. Jade kept going out further and further. The branch thinned and thinned and eventually it began to sag with the boy’s weight. Jade went about two feet further out and then stepped off the branch onto a lower one. That one too sagged until he could reach a lower branch, and it kept going like that until he could reach the ground. Probably not the safest way to get out of the tree, but it was efficient.  
Jade jumped the last foot to the ground and took off running for the long ago established Safe-base. David had begun to climb down the tree when he figured out what Jade’s motives were as he went from limb to limb. The young man finally reached the ground and took off after his brother.  
Jade ran for the stepping stones. He looked back and saw David emerge from the tree line. He turned his head forward and ran as hard as he could. David saw him and took off after him. Jade kept turning his head to look behind him. That was his biggest mistake. He didn’t see the small drop-off that he was headed for.  
David did though and stopped chasing Jade. “Hey, I give, lets start again.” He called while trying to catch his breath.  
Too late Jade lost his footing and slid down the small incline, over the edge and into the water. He came up sputtering. Then remembered what David had said and put his feet down. David had been wrong about one thing though. Not only did the water reach Jade’s waist, it actually went to midway up his chest, and it was freezing cold.

********************************B5***************************

“Jade! Jade! are you okay?” It was John’s voice. Jade looked up at his father.  
“Yeah, I’m okay Dad, but next time I play a chasing game with David I’ll remember to keep my eyes looking forward, instead of behind me.”  
John let out a heaving sigh of relief. Delenn would shoot him if anything were to happen to Jade. “David get over here.” John stripped off his shirt and shoes. He then waded down into the water. Jade made his way toward him and grabbed a hold of his arm as soon as he was able.  
“Ccccan wwwe get outtttta here. Tthththe wwater is rrrrreally ccccold.”  
“Yeah I’ll agree with that. Come on.” John lifted him up out of the water and waded back to the shore. David joined them after having crossed a little ways down at a shallow spot.   
“Hey, are you okay?”  
“Yep, jjjust cccccoldddddd.”  
“Let’s get in the house and both of us into some dry clothes.” John retrieved his shirt and shoes. “On second thought get out of those wet clothes now an wrap up in my shirt.” Jade stripped to his skivvies and pulled the shirt on. John lifted him off the ground, and the three Sheridan men hot-footed it back to the house. Once inside John sent David upstairs to deposit the soggy pants shirt and shoes in the thermal unit and retrieve towels for the dripping members of their party. While they waited John asked, “What were you two doing out there?”  
“Playing hide and seek. I was running back to base so that David would have to be it again. I guess I should’ve been watching where I was going though.”  
“Boy I’ll say. You just about gave me a heart attack. I thought you were hurt.”  
“Nope, just wet.” He was still shivering.  
David walked into the room with two thick warm towels.  
“Lets get the rest of those wet clothes off you kiddo.” John instructed.  
“Do I have to stay and help you two?”  
“No go on and get out of here. We are men we can take care of ourselves.”  
“Yeah,” Jade interjected.  
“Whatever you say, Dad.”  
“Thanks for helping me, David.”  
“Hey I’m your older brother. Its what I’m here for.” He smiled and ascended the stairs to the house above.

********************************B5***************************

John looked at Jade after David had left. “What did he help you do?”  
Jade looked up and shrugged, “Nothing much. Just stuff.” He watched John apprehensively for a moment.  
John ran a finger from the middle of Jade’s forehead down his nose, to his small chin, and used the finger to pull Jade’s eyes to his own. “Its okay, Pal, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. Brothers are entitled to have a few secrets.”  
Jade smiled at his father and continued to undress. When he was done John wrapped him in the towel and carried him upstairs.  
“Put me down Dad, I can walk.”  
“I know, but if I put you down I wouldn’t get to do this,” he said as he tickled Jade’s ribs. Jade writhed in his arms.  
“Stop it. That tickles me.”  
“Why do you think I did it?”  
“To tickle me?”  
“Exactly.”  
John entered Jade’s room and deposited him on the bed. Then walked around the bed and entered the closet. He picked out a blue t-shirt and a set of overall/shorts that his parents had given Jade. He then went and laid the clothes on the bed beside Jade. He crossed to the dresser and pulled out some underwear and socks. Then he turned and stepped over to Jade. He handed Jade the underwear. “You put these on, and I’ll get the rest.”  
Jade pulled his underwear on over his feet and leaned back on the bed to lift his small bottom up so that he could pull them on the rest of the way. John took his left foot when he sat up again. He slipped a sock on and tickled the sole of Jade’s foot. Then repeated the procedure on the other side. He then pulled Jade’s shirt down over his head. Then put both of his feet through the shorts. He stood the boy up and pulled the clothes on the rest of the way, fastening buttons and straps as he went.  
“Okay, Pal, all done. Why don’t you go wait for me to change and then we’ll ‘hang out.’ Just us guys.”  
“Okay, see you in a bit.”

********************************B5***************************

John walked to his room and changed into some comfortable ‘informal’ clothing, and walked back into the den. Jade was sitting in front of the monitor and watching the A.C.M.E. cartoon channel. The boy looked up as John entered. He smiled and made room for John to sit on the couch with him.  
“You read my mind, buddy.”  
“No I didn’t.”  
John stopped, taken aback at the comment then realized the faux pas. “No, no, no, I didn’t mean you actually read my mind. Its a figure of speech, it means we were thinking the same thing. Along the same lines. You know.”  
“Oh, think I get it now. You were gonna watch cartoons too.”  
“Exactly, so you read my mind.”  
“No, I didn’t.”  
John sighed, it was like trying to teach Delenn the more colorful meaning of the word butt. “Nevermind, Pal, lets just watch the cartoons.”  
Jade looked at him like he was nuts, but climbed into his lap and they watched cartoons for a while.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn sat at the head of the intricately carved, crystal table in the inner sanctum of the Temple of Valen. Her companions were Sek Durhan and Sek Turvall. The highest in rank of the teachers to the Anla-shok. They were discussing the imminent attack against the Drakh on Centauri Prime. The plan was to draw them out and force them into open war. If they could not be stopped they would be eliminated.  
“Entil’zha the rangers have finished their training. We only await your order for their insertion on Centauri Prime.” Sek Turval finished his report.  
“And what of your preparations, Sek Durhan?”  
“The decoy ships are ready. The insertion vessels were completed many months ago. As Turval says, we only await your order of the attack.”  
“Then I have no choice. We begin with the cleansing of Centauri Prime now. Our forces should be deployed within the next twenty standard hours. I am setting the time for twelve hours from now. That should give our rangers the time they need to ready themselves for the battles ahead.”  
“Yes Entil’zha that will be plenty of time. By leaving tonight they will be on Centauri Prime in two standard weeks. They know what is to be done once they are on the planet.”  
“Good. We need to get this done as soon as possible.”  
“With respect, Entil’zha Delenn, I ask you why?”  
“Because I promised a friend.” She paused for a long moment. “Is that all we have to discuss at this meeting?”  
“Yes, Entil’zha. That is all and that is the most important. We will keep you informed.”  
“Then let us adjourn. I have a promise to keep to a small boy.”  
“Tell the young one I look forward to our next meeting, and his next lesson in respect for his elders.” Durhan said with a chuckle.  
“I really do not think that he meant disrespect, Durhan.”  
“Nor I, Delenn, but I had quite a time making him sweat. He will be trouble, that is for sure, if he can get over his fear.” He added the last as an afterthought.  
“I will admit that around those he is comfortable with he is a rascal. I think he acquired his mischievous streak from the time he has spent with Ivanova.”  
“I thought he was a well behaved child,” Turval injected, “he gave me no trouble during the assessment. I found him polite, if quiet, not that I minded. All of the other human children I have encountered, and I will admit that the number is small, have all been loud and obnoxious. They had no control of their wits, as Jade does. And they were uneducated in the manner that you defer to the elder and more experienced generation.”  
“Jade was just frightened of you, Turval. I think that he saw a kindred prankster in Durhan, and he made friends with him the only way he knew how. By testing Durhan he awoke the mischievous part of him and gained a friend.” She looked at her personal chrono. “I must go now. I will see you at our next meeting.” She left the two of them to make the arrangements for the rangers going to Centauri Prime. As she walked, she decided to take the long route home and ponder some of the things that were about to take place at her order.

 

********************************B5***************************

John sat with Jade watching an aged vid, dating back to the late twentieth century, that he found while searching channels. John actually enjoyed this one. It was about the World War II era. Jade had dozed off, and John decided he’d had enough of the cartoon genre. He flipped channels, stopping every so often to watch a particular show that had caught his eye. He didn’t stay on one station very long though, until he spotted this movie. Even though he knew it was more than half over, he watched it anyway. It was called Schindler’s List, and he cried every time he watched it.  
He sighed as the movie ended. He sat up, and his movement woke Jade, which had been the whole point of sitting up in the first place.  
“Welcome back to the land of the living.”  
“Sorry I fell asleep.”  
“No problem. Lets go get dinner started.”  
“Mom said she was gonna be home to cook.”  
“I think her meeting is a little late. Don’t you think it would be nice of us to have something ready when she gets home.”  
“Yeah. No offense, but can’t we get the cooks to do it.”  
“No, I don’t like being waited on hand and foot. Besides, its relaxing.”  
“Your food tastes bad. Mom, on the other hand, cooks good food, and the cooks are better than both of you.”  
John stood and flipped Jade over his shoulder. “Come on you little turkey. We are going to cook dinner.”  
“Okay, but I better inform the house guards to have the medical staff on stand by.”  
“Look you, that it isn’t funny.”  
“Yes it is.”  
“Oh, no it isn’t.”


	3. Chapter 3

********************************B5***************************

Delenn walked into the house, and was assailed by the wonderful odor of baking bread. She inhaled deeply detecting the faint whiff of garlic as she did so. John had obviously, by the smell, made spaghetti. She was surprised, however when she walked in to find Jade helping his father set the table and clean up the mess in the kitchen. She stood and watched as two of her three men busily worked on getting dinner on the table. She noticed John had put their younger son to work setting out the silverware and drinks. She watched nervously as he carried in a large pitcher of juice, concentrating mightily on not spilling a drop.  
The two of them looked so busy that she didn’t think they had even noticed her, until Jade looked up from placing a bread basket in the center of the table and winked at her. She walked into the room and smiled at him. He smiled back and held a finger to his mouth. He then indicated his father with a nod of his head.   
‘Sneak up on him, Mommy.’ She heard in her mind.  
‘You look almost finished here, go and find David, little one.’ She thought back at him.  
He flashed a toothy smile and said, “Dad, I’m gonna go wash up and tell David that dinner is almost ready.”  
John didn’t even turn from his task. “Okay, tell him to show up in about ten or fifteen minutes. If Mom’s not back by then you guys can eat, and I’ll wait for her.”  
“ ‘Kay.” He scampered off.  
She flashed a wry grin at the retreating boy and walked up behind John, who was in the kitchen cleaning a sauce spill from the counter.

********************************B5***************************

John heard his little boy hasten from the room, and no sooner had the footsteps disappeared up the stairs, than he felt his wife’s firm arms slither around his waist, and her petite form rest against his back. He cleaned his hands on the towel in front of him as she kissed the back of his neck. He then turned in her arms and pulled her more tightly against himself. “Have a good day?”  
“Most of it yes. The rest we will have to wait and see.”  
He sighed. “I take it the rangers are ready.”  
“Yes, I sanctioned the order this afternoon. That is why I am late. I decided to go for a walk and. . . contemplate things.”  
“We can’t worry about it right now, love. There is nothing we can do until the Drakh are off of Centauri Prime.” She tightened her grip upon his waist, and in response he let his hands travel up her back to her magnificent, only slightly graying, hair. He massaged her scalp, and in so doing relieved a headache she hadn’t even noticed yet. She sighed in rapture.  
“That feels delightful, John. What would I do without you?”  
He smiled at her, though her eyes were closed in wonder, and she didn’t see. Her lips were pressed lightly together forming a satisfied smile as she savored the massage. John smiled again, this time more tenderly, and let his head bend to rest his lips upon hers. She had long ago learned that he might and did kiss her when she least expected, and so she responded to him instantly not in the least surprised. She returned his kiss, and he read in her manner the misgivings she had at giving an order that was going to cost lives. Even after all these years and all the battles and all the other orders just like this one, it still distressed her greatly. That made him love her all the more and he showed her as their kiss deepened.  
The moments stretched into forever, and abruptly John remembered that Jade and David were due back into the kitchen any minute. He reluctantly ended their moment together. “As much as I would like for this to continue to its end, love, our sons should be arriving for dinner soon. And it would be unsuitable for them to find the two of us in a compromising position.” Delenn giggled into his chest as he finished. “What?”  
“I was thinking that, if they did find us in a ‘compromising position,’ we would never have peace again. Just think of all the delightfully embarrassing questions that Jade would have for us.” Seeing her point, John burst into laughter, and she joined him. Once they had composed themselves John walked them over to the window to watch the sun go down behind the crystalline buildings of Tuzanor.   
“How was Jade when you got home?”  
He chuckled, “Interesting story, I got home and Tannier said that David had taken Jade outside because he was sulking. I went to look for the two of them. I got there just in time to see our small son fall head over feet into the deepest pool in the stream in the front garden.”  
“I assume he was all right.”  
“Yeah, he was cold and wet, but other than that fine. Scared me half to death though. I was so shaken up I carried him inside and changed his clothes for him.”  
“He did not protest.” She looked vaguely astonished.  
“No, I think he understood that I needed to do that to reassure myself that he was okay.”  
“I’m glad that David took him out to get his mind off his disappointment.” She turned and hugged him, and they stood that way for a while without another word just enjoying one another and the silence. Their quiet moment alone was interrupted by their sons coming down stairs for dinner.  
“Will you teach me to play that game?”  
“I don’t know. It may be too hard for a small time player like you.”  
“Hey I play video games all the time.”  
“Yeah, but this is a holo-game. Its like you’re in the game. You are the hero. Do you think you can handle that.”  
“Ye--” he started to answer.  
“Forget it, Pal, if you two are talking about the game I think you are talking about, you have to be much older, and a lot less jumpy before I permit you to play that one.”  
“Its the game you’re thinking of.” Jade sent David a foul look that he’d seen Susan use on an annoying person that was trying to get her attention, complete with a raised eyebrow.  
Delenn saw the look and intervened, “Why do we not sit down and eat, you two. The food is getting cold.” Both David and Jade shrugged and sat at the table. John joined them, as did Delenn.  
The four of them ate dinner less than silently. Jade described his fall into the stream, complete with visual aid using the food on his plate, specifically the spaghetti sauce, and the fork in his hand. David spoke of his day leaving out the conversation that he and Jade had shared. John was content to listen to the stories and sat back to savor them when he had finished eating.

********************************B5*************************** 

John and David stayed in the kitchen to wash dishes and clean the table. While they did this Delenn went to bathe and change into her more comfortable dress. She suggested that Jade take a bath also, and shooed him on his way. Jade went to his room and gathered his pajamas into his arms. He then headed to the small bathroom across the hall from John and Delenn’s bedroom. The small bathroom he shared with David.  
Delenn, meanwhile entered her and John’s room gathered her own after-bath garments and entered the bathroom joined to the bedroom by an old fashioned hinged door. All the inner doors were of the hinged design. The only modern computerized doors were the ones leading outdoors. Delenn got herself undressed and into the bath. Jade did the same in his bathroom.

********************************B5***************************

John and David finished the kitchen and table promptly and headed upstairs. John turned to David and said, “David, I have a small job for you if you’re willing to accept.”  
“You want me to keep Jade occupied so that you can help Mom in the shower.”  
“Son, are you sure that Jade is the only telepath in this family.”  
“Yeah, Dad. Its just that you two have done this since I was little. Probably since before I was born. Since Jade got here you’ve been showering separately. I knew it wouldn’t last.”  
“You can say that again. We won’t take long. Just keep him from interrupting.”  
“What is my payment?”  
“The joy of knowing you are keeping your parents happy. So you know there is no chance of being grounded for reasons less than worthy, brought on by the crankiness of your father.”  
“That's what I figured. Get outta here before the little rat is finished drowning himself.”  
“Cute description. Thank you.”  
“No problem, just go.”  
John virtually disappeared, and David smiled lopsidedly while shaking his head in amusement. ‘Sometimes, Dad, you are completely transparent.’ He thought as he settled in front of the monitor waiting for Jade’s eventual reappearance.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn lounged, eyes closed and breathing deliberately deep and even, in the tub letting the water temperature erase the strains of the order given only a couple hours earlier. She was so engrossed in relaxing and calming her mind that she didn’t notice John’s presence for several minutes. Once she did, she barely let on that she knew, smiling only slightly and offering a soft, “Hello, I was wondering when you would rejoin me in our nightly ritual.”  
“I have missed this, but I figured with Jade, well, I figured it wasn’t such a good idea until we had a distraction for him.”  
“Good thinking. It would not do to have him walk in on our time as David did so long ago.” Her speech was slow and her voice like velvet. She sat up to allow John room to sit. He slid in behind her and began massaging her shoulders and back.

********************************B5***************************

David sat and waited for about twenty minutes for Jade to reappear from his splash fest in the bathroom. He walked into the room hair dripping and half-dressed. “Where is Mom?”  
“She’s still in the bath.”  
“Oh, and Dad?”  
David sighed. He’d have to explain it or Jade would find out the same way he had, by walking in on them relaxing together. He was quiet for a moment to gather his thoughts, so he would explain it right. “You know how Mom has rituals to calm herself right?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Well if you didn’t notice she was kind of stressed out at dinner.”  
“Of course, I noticed. I’m telepathic. Her emotions were plain to see, and feel.”  
“Okay, well I don’t know for sure what made her so agitated, but she needed to utilize one of her rituals to calm herself again. Dad is part of this particular ritual.”  
“What are you talking about, David?” Jade was thoroughly confused.  
“Dad joined her in the shower, or maybe bath. He is helping her to relax.”  
“Oh, do you think we should do something to help?”  
“Not with this. They just need some time to themselves.”  
“Duh, I’m a kid not stupid. I meant that after they finish, whatever they do in there, should we have something done or cleaned or something like that.”  
David laughed, he should have known. Jade was more knowledgeable than he appeared on most subjects, why not this one. “Nah, we just need to stay out of their hair for a little while.”  
“Okay.”  
“Go get your towel, you little rat. I’ll help you dry your hair.”  
“I don’t need any help.”  
“You are dripping all over the floor. You need help.”  
“Okay.” Jade scurried off and retrieved his towel. He reentered the room drying his hair. “Now what do we do.”  
David looked up from the show he was watching. “We finish getting you dry and dressed, and then we can hang out or do our respective homework assignments.”  
“Okay, but I get Dad’s desk.”  
“Fine with me.” David shook his head once again. Jade always did his homework sitting at John’s desk. He wasn’t about to argue with the kid now. Little did he know, Jade had already finished his homework. It was the same every night, which was why Jade used John’s desk. He played video games while David finished his work.

********************************B5***************************

After donning a pair of shorts, John helped Delenn out of the tub, and helped her into her robe. He then took a towel and began to dry and brush the tangles out of her hair. She stood perfectly still as his strong hands worked their magic upon her scalp. Once satisfied that her hair was no longer going to drip down her back, John began the massage all over again. He worked her whole body until she was in a state of passivity, lying on their bed. He finished his work with a kiss to the base of her skull, and he was rewarded with a shiver of her body. He smiled.  
“Love, we better wrap this up. Jade is going to wonder where we went. I wouldn’t be surprised if he sent out a search party.”  
She chuckled with a note of contentment in her musical laugh. “I suppose you are right, but this feels so good. I will ‘owe you one’ as you say.”  
“I’ll collect on that after Jade has gone to Susan’s and we don’t have to worry about interruptions.”  
She rolled over and sat up. He moved closer and kissed her softly. “I’ll be in the den with our boys.”  
“I’ll join you in a minute.” She smiled as John stood and turned to exit. “John,” he turned back, “it is a pleasant thing to hear ‘our boys’ is it not?”  
“It is.” She let a small smile creep onto her face, and it was returned. “See you in a bit.”  
John donned his robe and exited then, and Delenn proceeded to get dressed.

********************************B5***************************

David was sitting on the couch surrounded by his books and homework when John walked into the room. He looked up from the figures on his paper. “Hey, everything cool now?”  
“Yeah, Mom is feeling a lot better.”  
“Good.”  
John looked around, zeroing in on Jade at his desk. “And just what are you up to, young man?”  
“Playin’ a game.”  
“Hey,” David interjected, “I thought we were doing our homework.”  
“I did my work this morning after my lessons and before lunch with Mom.”  
“Sneak.” David gave him a wry look and turned back to his work.  
“What game are you playing?”  
“That really old one you showed me, Pong. Its the easiest one so I like it.”  
“Makes sense. Can I get in on the action?”  
“Sure let me restart it in two player mode.”  
Jade stood up so that John could sit. John did and settled Jade on his lap. Then they played the game. Finally, John got tired of winning at pong and suggested a game change. Jade agreed, tired of losing, and they started a different game. They played games until Delenn rejoined them twenty minutes later.

********************************B5***************************

She walked in the room softly, with her usual grace. John and Jade sat playing a game on John’s computer monitor. David was doing his homework. She watched her family, burning the image of them into her memory. With the up coming struggle it was no telling when they would have peace again. She only hoped that the cleansing of Centauri Prime didn’t drag on for the last years John had in this life. She quickly escaped from that train of thought. If she dwelled on it she would need another massage to calm her again. She noticed a scowl on David’s face and walked over and sat with him.  
“What are you working on?”  
“Spatial dimensions, I’m on the last problem and I completely abandoned my thought processes. I am so blocked, I’ve been working on this problem for the last ten minutes. I’m thinking about giving up and asking Instructor Vorren for help with it in the morning before class.”  
“I have a better idea. Let me see the problem. I will help you.”  
“Thanks, Mom.” He scooted to one side and rearranged his books to make room for her. She sat and they looked over the problem together.  
John looked up from the game and watched the exchange between them. He gave a contented sigh and turned his attention back to the game at a jab from Jade.  
“Okay, okay, sorry. Got distracted.” He played his turn, and let Jade take it over again. Jade was pretty good at the games John had set up for him. John was impressed at the skill Jade showed playing pinball. He had actually made the higher scores on all three games they had played.  
“Ohhh, nuts! I missed it. Your turn.” When John didn’t respond, Jade looked up at him, “Dad?” He noticed a far off look in his father’s eyes. “Daddy. Hey! Its your turn.”  
“Huh, oh yeah, sorry your turns last so long that I have to do something to keep me awake.”  
“You looked like you were dreaming to me, Dad.”  
“I was, sort of. I was just thinking of all the stuff I have to do tomorrow.”  
“Oh, if you want to, we can stop. I can find something else to do if you need to work or something.”  
John smiled and squeezed him gently, “Thank you for the thought, but I don’t need to do anything now that can’t wait until tomorrow.”  
Jade hugged back and smiled. “Okay, but you are getting board with this game. Aren’t you?”  
“Maybe a little.”  
“Then lets do somethin’ else.”  
John checked his watch and noticed it was heading toward twenty thirty hours. “Tell you what. why don’t you go grab a book and we’ll sit out here and read a little.”  
“Okay, dad.” Jade slipped off John’s lap and headed to his room. He grabbed a book off the shelf and returned. John had moved to sit in one of the arm chairs facing the couch. Jade carried the book to him and crawled into his lap.  
“What have we got here?”  
“It’s the one we started last week. The Jungle Book you said we were gonna read it together.”  
“That I did, son, and so we shall. Lets get started.”  
Delenn looked up from helping David, “Don’t you dare go to sleep, young man, we have a date with the Chronicles remember.”  
“ ‘Course I do Mom. We’ll read those at bedtime.”  
“All right then, I will hold you to that promise.” He smiled and turned back to John to listen to him read.  
John had read about a chapter and a half when the wallcom went off. He looked up at Delenn, “Do you want me to answer?”  
“No I’ll get it. You keep reading, David and I finished and were listening to you.”  
“Okay.” He continued reading as she stood and went over to her desk. She answered the call on her computer receiver.  
“Yes, hello.”  
A Minbari male’s face filled the screen. “Ah, Delenn it has been many years since we spoke last.”  
“Yes, Lenann, I believe the last time we spoke was just after the Drakh Plague was cured.”  
“Indeed it has been far too long, Seven years I believe.”  
“Yes, seven years.” She couldn’t help but think, ‘Jade would not have even been born yet.’ “Is there anything in particular you called about, Captain, or are you wasting your evening when you should be spending it with family?” She said with amusement in her tone.  
“Actually, I am not at home. I am here in the capitol. I thought I might stop by tomorrow, and find out if the rumors I have heard are true.”  
“And what rumors are you foolishly listening to now?” Still the jesting manner, indicating the ease with which one speaks to an old friend.  
“The ones that say you have another child in your family.”  
“I can put your mind at ease right now. The rumor is true. John and I have adopted a young human child.”  
“I see. Then I would like to stop by and congratulate you and meet the little one.”  
“I suppose you may. Just do not bring an entourage with you, Jade does not like crowds.”  
“I understand. I have wondered...” He trailed off, “Well never mind. I will find out tomorrow. When would be an appropriate time?”  
“Some time around or a little after noon. Jade and I have lunch together on most days. Tomorrow will be no exception.”  
“Sounds good, my friend. I will see you at twelve hundred hours tomorrow.”  
“I look forward to it.” He bowed with the gesture of respect, as did Delenn. She then cut the transmission.  
Delenn went back to the couch and listened to John read. David scooted closer to her and leaned his head upon her shoulder. She grinned softly and put her arms around her elder son. He kissed her cheek and took a deep breath, turning again to listen to his father’s gruff voice read softly the ancient words of Rudyard Kipling.  
John read for an hour when he noticed Jade was leaning more heavily upon him, denoting the relaxation of his small body. He realized that Jade was almost asleep. He finished the page he was on and closed the book. “I think that’s enough for tonight, kiddo. It’s bedtime.”  
“Okay Dad.” His soft pitched voice was half asleep.  
David stood and stretched. “I better get to bed too. I have a test in Physics tomorrow.”  
“Sleep good, David.”  
“I will, ‘night guys.”  
“Goodnight.” David exited towards his room. John looked down at the boy in his lap. Jade wasn’t looking at anything in particular. He looked to be fighting off sleep.  
“Come on, lets get you to bed.”  
Delenn walked over to them. “I will take him to bed. You turn off the lights and make sure everything is shut down properly.” She indicated the computer on his desk.  
“Right, I’ll be there in a minute to tuck him in.” He said as he lay Jade in her arms.  
She smiled and headed out of the room.

 

********************************B5***************************

Delenn entered Jade’s small room and crossed to his bed. She sat down on the edge of it and shifted him to a one-armed grip. With her free hand she turned down the covers, and then helped him to lie down and pulled them up to his chin.  
“Mom,” came the sluggish voice, “are you still gonna read to me?”  
“Of course, I just need to go and get the book.” She walked out, and back into the den. Turning left when she entered she moved to the bookshelf that stood midway between her desk and the doorway. John, she took note of, was sitting at his desk engrossed in whatever document he was looking at. She shook her head, ‘he never gives up.’ She then went back to Jade’s room.   
He was more than half asleep now, but she had told him she would read to him. So, she settled onto the bed with him and tucked one arm around him as he snuggled closer. She managed to hold the book with both hands and began to read, in Adronatto the language of the Religious Caste, one of the more action filled stories in the dulcet voice she so often used with her children.

********************************B5***************************

John sat and went over the notes he’d made at the morning council session. He wanted to be sure of all that had been important. Tomorrow morning didn’t look like too hard a morning, but with the job he held one never knew. He believed in being prepared. Besides he figured he’d give Delenn a little time to read to Jade. He doubted that the turkey would fall asleep as easily as it appeared he was. After he finished going through the notes he shut down his computer and turned out the lights. He made his way down the hall to Jade’s room.  
As he came abreast of the door he heard soft music coming from David’s room. He strolled over and listened more intently. When he figured out what song was playing he almost cried; it had been so long since he’d heard it. He thought of the first time he’d heard it. He and Anna had just been married and it was the first song they danced to as husband and wife. The last time had been at Anna’s official funeral. He’d helped Lizie pick it out. It was one of the only things about the funeral that he had not turned over to her. He’d refused to pick the pastor, and the casket, since he thought of it as a waste, there being no body to put in it. The music however he had insisted upon. It had surprised Lizie that he was so adamant when he’d barley lifted a finger to help with the rest. He remembered walking into the house where Lizzie was going through Anna’s things. He handed her the data crystal with the songs he wanted played and walked out.  
Thinking of this brought about less pleasant memories of Anna, and those in turn brought on the visions of his time between tick and tock. He reached out and pressed his hands on the wall, lest he fall. He then closed his eyes tightly and when he opened them again the flash of memories was gone. He decided to pass Jade’s room by for a moment and moved to the bathroom next door to David. He splashed cool water on his face and dried it with the hand towel. He looked in the mirror and made sure he didn’t look too shaken up. Once satisfied he went back down the hall to Jade’s room.  
When he opened the door Delenn looked up from reading. Jade, John saw, was almost asleep. He walked over and noticed Delenn’s concerned look. ‘I should have known better than to try and fool her. She knows me too well after all this time.’  
He smiled at her and kissed her forehead. She pulled away from him and it looked like she was going to ask about his demeanor, but he put a finger to her lips to silence her. He then bent down and kissed the top of Jade’s head, and breathed deeply the clean child smell about him, which helped to erase some of the sorrow left by the memories. He slid his index finger down Jade’s nose and said, “Sleep well, little one. Don’t dream, okay.”  
“Okay Da-,” Jade tried to smother a yawn, “-ad. You sleep good too okay.” His soft voice became softer with each word.  
“That I will.” He kissed the boy’s head once more. “See you in the morning.” All Jade did was clumsily nod his head.  
Delenn was still watching him. He mouthed the word later at her, and she nodded in understanding. He turned to leave and she began reading again. He entered their room and sat on the floor near the bed. He had long ago mastered the techniques and slipped easily into the soothing state of meditation he assumed every night before bed.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn read until Jade’s breathing was deep and even. Once she was satisfied he wouldn’t wake when she moved off the bed; she stood slowly laying Jade softly back onto his pillow. She then flipped on the intercom beside the bed. She retrieved her book from where she’d set it on the nightstand, and left the room turning off the bedside light as she did. She wondered what had happened to affect John so deeply. She hoped that he would talk to her after her meditation and changing for bed. When she entered the room John was deep in meditation and she hoped that he found what he sought tonight. She had no doubts that he was meditating upon whatever had caused his earlier discomfort.   
She changed into her silken gown and robe then lit a candle and began to cleanse her mind of the jumble it had achieved with her work and worry. She heard John take a deep breath signaling the end of his meditation, and the distinctive sounds as he stood after a few moments. He then sidled past her, his shorts and t-shirt in hand, to the bathroom to ready himself for bed. Delenn cut short her meditation, and climbed into the bed. Worry for her husband leaving her unable to calm herself enough to fully slip into a meditative trance.  
John returned and climbed in beside her. She scooted herself closer and took his hand in hers. “What is bothering you, my love?”  
“Old memories, sad memories. It’s nothing really.”  
“Tell me about them.”  
“Delenn...”  
“Tell me, John, please.”  
He sighed heavily and gave in. “Earlier when I was on the way to Jade’s room I heard music coming from David’s. The song that was playing is a rather old one. Ancient really. It was from the late twentieth century on Earth by a man named Edwin McCain. It also happened to be one of Anna’s favorites the name of it was “I’ll Be.” It was the first song she and I danced to after we were married, and the last I had played at her funeral. The funeral before she came back as a shadow of her former self.” He let it pour out as quickly as possible. He knew if he stopped that he wouldn’t be able to talk of it. “It’s funny, now that I think about it, that song is better suited for you and me. I’ll have to play it for you sometime.”  
“John,” Her voice was full of concern and compassion for him, as she ran her hands through the short hair on the back of his head.   
“I remembered the day I gave the song to Liz. She was in our house, Anna’s and mine, she was going through some of Anna’s things deciding what she wanted to keep and what I should. I remember that I couldn’t bring myself to look through it all. I couldn’t help with the arrangements, but I remembered that she loved this song and I wanted it played for her one last time. So, I faced my fears and entered the house. I hadn’t been in there since I had gotten word of her death. I didn’t want the reminder that she wasn’t there anymore. Going in there, well I thought at the time that it would damn near kill me. To see her things for the first time since her death and know that she would never enjoy them again. Never take a precious amount of time, that I never understood, to dust them. It was almost too much. I ended up handing the data crystal to Liz and fleeing before the tears and the grief overwhelmed me.” He paused and took a deep breath.  
Delenn could feel the tremendous strength it was taking for him to speak of this time in his life. He had never told her of the time after Anna disappeared, presumed dead, and before she met him. She knew he had thrown himself into his work and all of the official things that had been said, but she didn’t know what he, himself felt or thought about. She took his face between her hands and kissed the tears away. He slid his arms around her and rested his head between her breasts, as he always did when seeking comfort. She’d learned in a ‘girl talk’ session with Liz that he’d done that since he was a small child. If he’d needed comfort he would rest his head between their mother’s breasts.  
“After that memory, I had a few other flashes. Other times I had heard the song. Even the last time I saw her on Z’ha’dum. There were a few other memories that I just can’t talk about. I wondered then how will it be after I go. There is so little time left for us. I wondered why I feel obligated to spend the rest of my life working with other governments instead of spending every moment, waking and sleeping, with my wife and sons. Delenn,” She could hear his voice change again to speaking with tremendous effort. “I find that I am tired of trying to maintain the peace of the galaxy. I don’t know what to do about it though. Not yet. I want to see the cleansing of Centauri Prime to it’s end. Knowing that I was, in part at least, responsible for the Drakh’s presence there. I have to see it through to the end, but after its over...I want to spend more days with Jade, like the days that I promised him for this week. I owe him that. I owe him memories like I am leaving with you and with David. How could I have adopted him when I knew I had so short a time left?”  
“I thought that you were happy that you have the time with him that you do.”  
“I know I said that, but well, for me I am happy, but Jade, he deserves more somehow. It’s not fair to him that I am going to be gone so soon after he got here. David will have had nineteen years with me as his father, but Jade... I only have three years with Jade. I want his memories of me to be fulfilling enough to last him the rest of his life. I want memories of him and you and David to sustain me until the next life when we are all together again.” John, by this time, was sobbing into her chest. Delenn’s arms were wrapped around him, and she held him as unshakably as she could manage whilst she herself sobbed with and for him. “I...you know I thought I had accepted this fate. Maybe I had, until Jade became ours. I hate myself for leaving him, and I hate the universe and it’s cruel tricks, and I hate Lorien for not being able to give me a full lifespan. If I had just a few more years, Delenn, it would be okay. Even if it were only two extra years. At least it would give Jade five years. A lot happens in five years, I wish I had them to help him go through all that he will...I....” He was overwhelmed and could not speak another word.  
Delenn found herself pulling him even more tightly to herself. She didn’t know what to say to help him in his fears, and that single fact scared her more than she thought anything could. She had thought that the knowledge of when she’d lose him was scary, but she’d prepared herself as much as she could until the moment he left her. She could not prepare herself for the grief that she’d feel after he was gone. That scared her, but this being unable to comfort him, not having the words to comfort him. That was the most terrible thing she had, and would ever have to face. “I have no words John. Not for this. These things you speak of hurt me as much as you. I wish you had more time with him, with all of us, but you do not. There is nothing we can do to change that. And I have no way to comfort you other than to hold you, and to grieve with you.”  
“No, there is nothing to say to it. It must be, but just having you here to hold on to is comforting enough for me. I need that, right now more than ever. I just...I’m sorry Delenn. I should have listened to you, to your warning from the future. I should not have gone to Z’ha’dum.”  
“DO NOT be sorry. John, it is not your fault. You thought you were doing what was right. I forced you into that fate. I did not allow you to choose your own actions. By not letting you make your own decisions I forced the actions to choose you.”  
“No, Delenn, I could have chosen to stay and not gone. I didn’t listen. I did things the way I thought they should be done. I’ve always had a stubborn streak as big as the Grand Canyon, but I guess you know that better than anyone. I have never and will never blame you, and I won’t allow you to blame yourself either.” He lifted his head from her chest and pulled her into his embrace. She then wrapped her arms around his waist and let go of the last of her guilt for his journey to Z’ha’dum. John held her while she let it out the only way she knew how, she wept. He cried with her as she had with him, and when she was finished he kissed away the tears left on her cheeks, also as she had done for him. This action led to other activities that were, between a man and his wife, more healing than tears.  
For a wonder, Jade slept peacefully that night. Before dozing off, Delenn had heard his whimpers, but to her relief they subsided, and she heard his calm, deep breathing once again.


	4. Chapter 4

********************************B5***************************

John woke the next morning with his face buried in his wife’s hair and neck. He felt her even pulse against his cheek and turned his head to kiss the pulsing point of skin. She sighed and turned to face him. “You are determined that I not sleep later than you by even a few minutes are you not?”  
“Not really, but I couldn’t resist.” He lifted up on an elbow and brushed her bangs to one side. “Do you know how beautiful you are in the morning?”  
“You have told me on occasion, but not recently.”  
“Well then I guess I’d better. You are more beautiful than the sun, rising and setting, more beautiful than life. I love you, Delenn.”  
“And I you, John.” She slipped a hand around behind his head and pulled his lips to hers. When she broke the kiss John was a little breathless. “I believe that is the proper way to say good morning to the one you love. Is it not?”  
“It is.”  
“John, I believe it is time for us to get out of bed.”  
“Why do you say that?”  
“Look at the door.” She whispered.  
John looked down the length of the bed to the door. A small smiling face greeted him.  
“Good morning, squirt.”  
“Hi, Dad. I slept in my room all night long.”  
“I know, and I’m proud that you did.”  
“Jade, why don’t you go and let your father and I get ready for the day ahead. If you need help I will be there in a moment.”  
“I don’t need help, Mom. I’m already dressed. I just thought I’d check on you because I didn’t hear Dad’s alarm go off.”  
“I must have forgotten to set it.” He looked pointedly at Delenn, and lowered his voice so Jade wouldn’t hear. “Wonder how that could have happened?”  
“Oh, okay. See you at breakfast.”  
Delenn smiled as Jade left the room. “Now let us get up and dressed before he decides we are taking too long, and comes back to discover us in our current state of undress.”  
“Good idea, love.” He kissed her one last time before he let go of her though. Then they got up, and ready for the day.

********************************B5***************************

Jade walked down the hall and through the den to the door leading to the kitchen. He opened it. When he entered the kitchen he gave David a thumbs up. “They were still in bed?”   
“Yep, I think that they had just barely woke up.”  
“Why do you think that?”  
“Because when I first peeked in they were kissing good morning.” He said this with a look of disgust written upon his face. David laughed. He remembered being six and getting grossed out by all the ‘mushy stuff’ between his parents. Secretly Jade didn’t mind the ‘mushy’ he was just glad he had parents that could be ‘mushy.’ He’d never let David know that though.  
“Well, good that gives us some time to set the table. Help me out here?”  
“You betcha.” He smiled and caught the spoon that David tossed his way.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn walked through the house hand in hand with John. When they neared the breakfast room they were set upon by the aroma of hash browns and eggs and bacon. Delenn also thought she smelled the traditional Minbari breakfast tea.  
“I wonder who is here this early.”  
“I don’t know, but by the smell they can cook.”  
They walked into the breakfast nook and were greeted by their sons sitting at the table. Both were dressed and waiting for their parents to enter.  
“Good morning.” They both said at roughly the same time.  
“What have you two been up to in here?” John asked.  
“We cooked breakfast, Dad.” Jade said as he stood and walked over to his mother.  
“Delenn, I think we have two sneaks on our hands.”  
“I agree, but it is a nice thought.” She said as she lifted Jade off the floor.  
“Yeah, but when I was a kid I only did something like this if I was about to get into big trouble, or I wanted something really bad. So, you two, which is it?”  
“Neither, Dad,” said David, “we just thought it might be nice for you to wake up to breakfast that’s all.”  
John still looked skeptical, but sat anyway. Delenn deposited Jade to his own chair, and sat as well, and when they were all settled they dug in.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn entered the kitchen to find the meal she requested from her favorite restaurant had been delivered already, and that Jade and Tannier had placed it in the warmer. John came in a few minutes later.   
“Hey, that smells delicious.”  
“I agree. I decided that this would be easier than making a formal meal for Lenann’s visit.”  
“Good choice.” He moved closer and embraced her. They heard the tromp-tromp-tromp of small feet coming down the stairs. Soon Jade emerged from the doorway and leapt at John.  
“Dad! You came home for lunch too. Hey, I thought you had to work extra hard since you are taking the last two days off this week.”  
“I do, but your mom came to my early meeting and helped speed it up. So, I got to my office earlier than I thought and finished all my paperwork. So, I figured I’d surprise you and show up for lunch.”  
“Cool, dad.”  
“You say that like my great-grandfather used to.”  
Jade smiled. “David says that word has gone in and out of style for the past two and three-quarter centuries.”  
“You know what, pal?” Jade watched him expectantly. “Although, I think its probably been around for a bit longer than that. If I remember right it came into popularity in the nineteen-sixties. He’s absolutely right. ”  
That brought a smile to Jade’s face. Abruptly the door signaled for attention. Delenn left John and Jade’s side and walked to the wall unit. She checked the ID scan on the screen and sure enough it was Lenann. “Enter,” she called into the comm, “you shall be guided to us.” She turned back and saw Jade watching her with trepidation in his eyes and expression.  
John must have noticed also for he reassured the boy, “Hey, your mom and I have known Lenann for a long time. Do you think we would let him anywhere near you if we thought he might hurt you?” Jade shook his head in the universally negative gesture. “Then calm down. Remember that we’re here, and to take deep slow breaths. Okay?” He got the universal gesture for yes, and decided to be satisfied with it.  
“Jade,” Delenn said, “would you like for me to hold you?”  
He shook his head no again. “I wanna stay with Dad.”  
“All right. Just let me know if you need me.”  
“I will.”

********************************B5***************************

Lenann followed the Anla-Shok guard that greeted him at the door. He was astounded at the variety of plants in the house gardens. Being the captain on a War Cruiser had taught him to memorize his path anywhere he went, regardless of how many times he had or had not been there. So, by the time they got to the Dinning room and kitchen, he knew he’d be able to find his way back without help. He entered the dinning area to find Delenn sitting with Sheridan and a small child, that could only be the one he wanted to meet. To him the boy looked ill at ease.   
The gray-blue gaze never left him; following his movements toward the trio. Once Lenann came within a respectful distance he bowed in a greeting. Delenn returned the bow and John tried, but it didn’t quite come off effortlessly, with Jade in his arms. “How are you my friends?” He greeted aloud.  
Delenn answered, “We are well. Our family is well, and I believe you came specifically to meet it’s newest member.”  
“Indeed I did.”  
John stepped forward and presented Jade. “Lenann, I’d like you to meet Jade Ganya Sheridan. Jade, this is Fleet Captain Lenann. A very good friend of your mother’s and mine.”  
“Hello.” Jade’s voice was small but audible.  
Lenann wondered at his reserved actions. ‘Was this child afraid of him?’ Perhaps the rumors were true after all.  
“It is an honor to meet the second son of my life-long friend and her, in my opinion, well chosen mate.”  
John chuckled at the old joke shared by the three of them. With John’s calm radiating around him, Jade became less jumpy and Delenn decided that it would be wise to sit and eat while he was placid.  
Jade sat in John’s lap for most of the meal. Rarely saying anything. John and Lenann spoke freely of the times they had shared. When John mentioned the first time they’d met, and spoke briefly of how Lenann had saved Delenn’s life, Jade’s interest peaked and he lost some of his reservations. By the time he chose to speak up the conversation had moved on.  
“You helped my mom?” He asked with more than a little trepidation.  
Lenann was taken slightly aback by the sudden words of the here-to-fore speechless child, and stopped talking in mid sentence.  
It was Delenn who answered Jade’s question. “Yes, Lenann saved me from a madman who was consumed by hate and bigotry.”  
“How did you save her?”  
“She and I had been abducted by a group of men, as I entered Babylon 5 to take a tour. After we were taken and settled in the area where they kept us. Your mother decided that it would be fun to provoke the one who was pointing a PPG at us. He became enraged and forgot his cause. He took a shot at your mom and I jumped in the way.”  
Jade’s eyes were as big as dinner plates, “Wow. You must be really good friends if you got shot so that she wouldn’t.”  
“We were raised together in Temple, Lenann was like my elder sibling.”  
“Like David is my brother?”   
“Exactly like that.”  
Jade smiled, “Thank you for saving her.”  
“It was many years ago, before even her marriage to your father, and I would gladly do it again.”  
John felt Jade’s body relax. He let the boy slide to the floor and suggested that they ascend to the den and relax before he and Delenn returned to work. Lenann acquiesced and they went upstairs. Jade, impressed by the Minbari, asked questions about his work on a War Cruiser, and for stories of the battles he’d fought. Lenann decided that this child was as delightful as the elder son of his long time friends. All too soon though, John and Delenn had to return to work. Lenann stayed and spoke with Jade for a while longer and taught him some of the commands used on the ships in Adronato before he left. A while after he left David returned from school and told Jade more stories of ‘Uncle Lenann’ that sounded impossible to Jade. 

********************************B5***************************

“Did Captain Lenann really take David on a war ship?” He asked Delenn during dinner that evening.  
“Yes, he took David for a tour of his ship.”  
“Do you think I will ever get to see one?”  
“If you like I can arrange it for after you get home from Susan’s.”  
“Cool.”  
“I take it that is an affirmative.” He nodded his head vigorously.  
The rest of dinner passed in relative silence. The clean up roles reversed that night with John and David showering whilst Delenn and Jade cleaned up the mess.

********************************B5***************************

A sudden thought struck Jade in the middle of drying a plate, “Mom, how did you get away from the men?”  
“What men, Jade?” Her mind had been occupied, and not worrying over conversations that had ended at lunch.  
“The men that had you and Captain Lenann.”  
“Well, your dad devised a plan to force the men to vacate the area where we were being held, by faking a leak in the reactor of Babylon 5. The gasses are dangerous to breathe so the men who had Lenann and me were in the process of moving to a fall back position, when your dad, Susan, and Mr. Garibaldi ambushed them. The leader and several others were killed. Remember the one that Lenann spoke of. The one who shot at me.” Jade nodded his head. “He had been guarding Lenann and me throughout the fire fight. Your dad shot the gun from his hand and the man collapsed to the ground. The rest of the security team had dispatched or disabled the rest of the men, and Dad decided to check on one of the downed security guards. The man was only stunned, and rose to his knees and turned toward your father’s position. Lenann was untying the ropes restraining me so I saw his actions. He held a knife in his hands and prepared to throw it at Dad’s back. As I said he was checking on a security guard and had his back turned toward the man. Susan was looking at a different offender who was still dangerous and she didn’t see the man either.”  
Jade’s eyes had grown wide, “Did Dad get hurt?”  
“No, love. I saw the man and warned him of the danger.”  
She was interrupted by John’s quiet voice, “That’s not exactly as I remember it, beautiful.”  
“No, but the details are not worth mentioning.”  
“Oh, I think that they are. Jade asked for the whole story.” He walked up beside them, and knelt in front of his son. “Kiddo, your mom was the only one who saw that guy get up and prepare to throw the knife. Yes, she shouted to warn me, but she also ran toward me. Actually, she ran in front of me and took the knife herself.”  
Jade’s eyes were filling with tears now. “So, my mom got hurt instead?”  
“Yeah, she did. She spent the next couple weeks in Medlab.” Delenn dried her hands as John said this. She then lifted Jade into her arms.  
“John Sheridan, you are going to give my son nightmares. Do you not think he has enough as it is?”  
“He wanted to hear the truth. We can’t lie to, or mislead him.” John reached over and smoothed Jade’s brow.  
She sighed and held Jade tightly, “True, but ‘we’ could have found a more tactful way to tell him about it and ‘we’ could have picked a more appropriate time to tell him. Instead of just before bed.”  
John seeing her point tipped an imaginary hat in surrender.  
Delenn looked back at the mostly finished dishes and turned back to John. “Why don’t you finish up here, and I will take Jade upstairs for a calming bubble bath.”  
John nodded in consent. He owed her that much he supposed.  
Delenn smiled at him to show she was not really all that angry, and left the room carrying Jade.

********************************B5***************************

Jade was silent the whole way up the stairs and into his room. He was silent as she placed him on the bed, and his gray-blue gaze never left her as she gathered his pajamas. He was silent as she lifted him again in her arms and walked down the hall. David was still in the boys’ bathroom, so she carried him to her and John’s bathroom. He was silent as she lowered the lid of the lavatory and sat him on it. Silently, he watched her as she drew him a bath and added the bubble making solution. He was silent as she stood him up and helped him rid himself of his dirty clothes and helped him into the tub. He was silent as she then gathered the dirty clothes and put them into the cleaning unit. He was silent as she lathered his hair with shampoo, and washed the rest of his body. His gaze never left her, and his silence began to unnerve her. He watched silently as she retrieved a towel from the cabinet just beside the door, and returned to help him out of the tub. Also as she vigorously rubbed his arms, legs, and body to dry him, and as she helped him into his pajamas. She then walked into her room with the towel in her hands and him in tow. She sat herself on the bed and then sat him between her legs. She began to gently dry his hair with the towel. As she caressed his fine hair she spoke delicately to him. “It no longer hurts, you know.” Still he was silent. “It happened so long ago. Yes, I hurt at the time, but pain and then it’s memory fade into nothingness. I would do it again if faced with the same decision.”  
His voice was small, but at least he spoke, “You really love Dad a lot don’t you.”  
“Yes, very much.” He turned and stretched his arms around her midriff, and allowed his still damp head to rest upon her bosom. She held him back, resting her cheek on the top of his head.   
“Mom, who were the men that hurt you?”  
“Well....” She faltered, she didn’t want to speak of NightWatch to him. His ordeal at their hands was still so fresh in everyone’s memories. She decided she had no choice as he asked again. Sighing deeply she steeled herself for his reaction and said, “It was a group of men from the same organization that harmed you.”  
“NightWatch.” Jade’s grip tightened, and she held him closer prepared for the tears, but not the whispered apology. “I’m so sorry, Mom.”  
Delenn pushed him away just far enough to get him to look in her eyes. “Do not be sorry. I was hurt before you were born. It was not your fault.”  
“I know but you were still hurt. Like my old mom and dad, like my sister, and like me. I know it wasn’t my fault, but they will never apologize to you so I will.” Delenn held him closer as the tears rolled down his small cheeks and her own.  
“Thank you, my son. I am also sorry because you were harmed.”  
It didn’t appear that he was able to speak any longer overcome with emotion. So, Delenn lifted him up to finish drying his hair. Once she was satisfied that his hair was dry enough and brushed into place, she lifted him off the bed and carried him back to the den.

********************************B5***************************

John sat doing his paper work as David watched a movie on the monitor. Delenn entered the room slowly with Jade in her arms. The little guy held tightly to her with his chin resting heavily on her shoulder. John saw first the redness of her eyes, and when she turned to sit he could see the same redness in Jade’s. A wave of guilt washed over him, ‘Did I cause all that?’ he wondered silently. Delenn sat herself and Jade in one of the armchairs and let him snuggle on her lap. She and David watched the movie while Jade held his mother. She turned at one point to look at John, who watched her and their smaller son. She smiled at him, and he knew everything was all right, and the guilt passed. She then turned back to the movie, kissing Jade’s soft hair as she did. He eventually began watching the movie with his mother and brother.  
John finished up and joined them. He moved to lift Jade from Delenn’s lap, and the relaxing boy’s arms slipped around her and held on. “It’s okay Jade, I understand.” He whispered. Delenn smiled up at him ruefully. She rubbed the boy’s back soothingly, as John sat in the chair beside them. Jade reached out a hand to his father. John took it and held it gently until the movie finished, and David bustled off to bed, sensing that his parents needed time alone with Jade. John and Delenn sat with Jade for a long time with their quiet breathing the only sounds heard. Finally, John stood, he helped Delenn to stand and again held Jade’s hand as they walked to his room. Delenn lay him on the bed and pulled the covers out from under him. She then tucked him in and sat on the bed with the Chronicles of Valen once again ready to read to him.  
“Mom,” he paused and she prompted him, “can I see where they hurt you?”   
“Now?” He nodded his head. Delenn looked to John for a sign to concede or deny. He merely shrugged, cupping her face with a hand, to say that it was her decision. She sighed, and looked back to Jade nodding her head. “Let me get ready for bed. It will be easier to show you with my gown on. If you are still awake I will show you then.”  
“Okay, mom.” By the look on his face, John figured they’d have to drug him if she wanted him to fall asleep before she got back.  
“Tell you what, if Jade wants, I’ll read to him until you get back.” John looked at the boy expectantly.  
Jade thought for a bit gauging how tired he felt then nodded. “Sure, more of The Jungle Book?”  
“What else?” John retrieved the book as Delenn headed to their room to shower. He re-entered Jade’s room and made himself comfortable beside his son on the bed. He began reading from the place he left off the night before, the only catch was that, as he read, he translated the story into Adronato.

********************************B5***************************

John read an entire chapter before Delenn reappeared. He watched her slow movements as she entered in her gown and matching robe. She walked over as Jade sat up. She lowered herself onto the edge of the bed. John also sat up and hung his feet over the side of the bed to make room for her. She removed her left arm from the robe and let the thin strap of the gown fall from her shoulder. Jade moved closer to look at the thin line of a scar revealed just below her shoulder blade. John himself winced ever so slightly as he looked upon the scar, and took her hand in his own.   
Jade stared at the scar for a long moment then reached out a tentative hand to touch it. His small index finger traced it’s length from top to bottom. He then lifted his own shirt and looked at the three jagged scars on the front of his small torso. One, from the operation to fix his ribs, was in the process of being removed with skin treatments, Jade had decided that he didn’t want to eliminate the other two. The second was on his left side, and rounded making it look like a burn from a PPG graze, or a cigar. John doubted they’d ever know, for sure, which it was. The third was unmistakably from a precise cut, inflicted for the pain it would cause. He traced his cut with the same finger, as tears coursed silently down his cheeks. His small eyes were drawn back to Delenn’s scar, and in a totally unexpected move he lay his face against it, as if he were comforting her, or himself. He then whispered so softly that John wasn’t sure if he heard or not, “Why do they have to hurt other people like that?” He sniffled a bit then turned his face and placed a small tender kiss on the scar. Jade then lifted her gown to cover it once more.   
Delenn, who’d sat motionless through all that had transpired, put her arm back through the robe and covered her shoulder. She then pulled him onto her lap, and engulfed him in a hug. John draped an arm around Delenn’s shoulders and rested his other hand on Jade’s trembling back.  
Delenn began to sing the Song Of Valen, as she had when they’d stayed with Nancy and David. Jade listened quietly to the words, and to John it looked like he had actually understood most of what Delenn sang:

[She with hair of the Raven, Will strong like Iron, Yet breakable as the crystal, Eyes that shone like Cobalt. Heart set upon Right, and Love all but forgotten in tragedy.] Delenn took a breath. [The battle Fierce, like the roar of the Tiger. No hope save the soul of the One. Life granted to a Race. After red blood Spilled.] She paused momentarily to kiss Jade’s forehead and continued, [He the friend of the One. Soft blue the eyes of the clouds. Hardness in his heart, left from the lost friend Whom he and Raven Hair had saved. Choices of sorrow before him.] Her voice wavered for a bit. [The battle slow, fighting for Isil’zha. The Leaders deny, The council of gray Follow. The One is again born. The war is won.]  
Her voice gained volume and pitch, strengthening. [The love shining brightly between them. Hands resting upon hands to stave off fear. Her eyes of Green meeting his of Blue. A small smile and fear is defeated. The Time Rift sealed by their love.] She continued without pause into the last verse. [The battle mighty, still to come. Shadows movements hard to see. The test of Fire forges a will unbreakable. The Shadows driven off.] Her arms tightened around him as his eyes drifted closed. [The first ones gone. A new age Born. Her hand in his. The love stays strong.] 

Her voice trailed away, and John’s eyes fell from her to the sleeping child she held in her arms. He was still holding onto her robe, but his grip was a loose one. John took hold of one small hand and removed it from her robe, then did the same with the other. Delenn turned and lay Jade in his bed and tucked the covers around him. John kissed his forehead, and once again traced a line from his forehead to his chin.  
“Sleep well, little love.” He took Delenn around the waist and led her to their room. He got her settled into bed, and went to shower and change. When he returned she was deep in exhausted sleep. John gingerly climbed into his side of the bed, and rolled to face her once he was settled. He gently pulled her sleeping form into his arms and held her close while he relaxed and let sleep take over. 

********************************B5***************************

Jade looked around and found that he was alone in a cell of some kind. It was one he didn’t remember though. He searched the walls and found a small barred window. He looked out the window and saw a starry sky. Letting his gaze lower he noticed the flickering of flames. He stood on his tip-toes to get a better look at the flames and realized that a city was burning, not five miles from his cell. He heard a lock click behind him and instinctively dropped to the floor pretending to sleep. Someone was pushed into the cell and then the door closed. He heard a moan and looked cautiously toward the being that had been pushed into the cell. It was too dark for him to make out who or what the being was. He slowly reached out with his mind and recognized the presence. It was David. Jade scrambled to his side. “What happened David?”  
“I...don’t...I...” his pain-filled voice drifted off to unconsciousness.  
Jade sat beside his older brother, and watched the window. David began to shiver beside him and Jade went searching around the room once more. He found a small mat with a blanket atop it. He pulled the blanket over to David and covered him with it. Then he went back to the window and screamed for John at the top of his lungs.

********************************B5***************************

John heard the screams before Delenn for once, and hurried to Jade’s room. His small son writhed on the bed, tangled in his covers. John reached out and smoothed his sweaty brow and Jade’s movements slowed enough for John to untangle him. John noticed that the intercomm was off. ‘So that’s why Delenn didn’t wake.’  
John rested his hand upon Jade’s brow when the boy began writhing again. His movement calmed again, and the screams stopped. John lifted Jade from the bed and removed his sodden shirt. He then removed the equally damp pants and dropped them in the hamper beside the door. He went to the dresser and pulled out a clean pair of pajamas and walked back to the bed. He redressed Jade as the squirming subsided momentarily. His uneasy movements began anew and John lifted the still sleeping boy into his arms. He held the child close as he began to walk the floors of Jade’s room and the hallway. He entered his and Delenn’s room intending to lie down once more, but Jade went into fits again. Delenn looked so peaceful John decided not to disturb her rest.   
He walked out of the room and out onto the veranda. The cool night breeze seemed to help Jade and John decided to sit and watch the stars for a while. He sat with his legs propped up in the swing, and Jade half sitting atop him. He put pillows behind him to keep the armrest from digging into his back. Every so often he would see a ship taking off or landing. Some were Whitestars most were Minbari transports.   
After a while John stood and carried Jade inside. He took the boy back to his room. As soon as John lay him back into the bed the jerky movements started again. John sighed and crawled into the bed with his son. He curled protectively around the boy and began to softly sing the ages old lullabies that his mother had sung to him as her mother had done for her. As John’s voice droned on Jade’s sleep became more peaceful. Finally John himself drifted into a peaceful sleep.  
Delenn awoke somewhere in the depths of the night and found herself alone in bed. She rose and went in search of her husband, only to find him curled protectively around their six year old son.

********************************B5***************************

The next day was uneventful even though it was one of John’s two days with Jade. They had morning lessons and were out exploring all afternoon. Delenn had a briefing from Durhan and Turval. She learned at this meeting that the rangers infiltrating Centauri Prime were a standard week from the insertion point. That night was as uneventful as the day had been. David had a load of homework and it took most of his free time that night.   
Delenn decided that they had all had enough television for the week and opted to let Jade read aloud to her while practicing speaking in Adronato. She helped him with some of the words he stumbled over. She had made it a point to speak to him in Adronato a little a day so that he would learn the language quickly. John had even taken up the habit. He’d also been teaching Jade to speak Russian, what little he knew, so that he could surprise Susan when he got to her and Marcus’s home. 

********************************B5***************************

Jade woke early the next morning. John had put him to bed early and assured him that it would benefit him. When the little boy opened his eyes his dad gazed down at him.  
“I wondered how long you were going to sleep in.”  
“What time is it Dad?”  
“Oh six hundred, pal. Time for you to get up and get ready for the day ahead.”  
“What are we gonna do today Dad?”  
“First, you are going to go into the bathroom and do what all living things do after a long night. Then you are coming back here and getting dressed. Then we will have a quick lesson before breakfast.”  
“Ohhhh, not a lesson.”  
“Yes, a lesson. Then we’ll have breakfast like every morning. We then will complete all the agenda I have scheduled for your lessons. Then you pack your things. Don’t pack your clothes. I suspect that Susan will have a closet full waiting for you. Just pack the toys and books you want to take, and maybe an outfit or two that you’d like to take. I want you to gather your baseball stuff as you pack because when you finish packing we are going to go outside, and I am teaching you to play the game like it should be played. After that, well I guess that the rest of our itinerary is in your capable hands.”  
“Cool. Be back in a sec, Dad.”  
“I’ll be cooking breakfast with your mom.”  
“Okay.” He skittered out of the room. Once he finished he returned to his room and made his bed then got himself dressed. He grabbed his lesson books from the day before, and went to the breakfast room. John stood with Delenn at the stove. It looked to Jade that Delenn was about to throttle her husband. He smiled and said, “Dad, I’m ready for my lesson.”  
John sauntered to the table and began the lesson. Delenn continued cooking grateful, that her son had lured John away so that she could concentrate on the cooking. David came down stairs an hour later, fresh from the shower and ready for school.  
“Dad’s already got you hard at work, huh.”   
“Yep, we’re on a schedule.”  
“Oh really and what does this schedule entail.”  
“I’m gonna have my lessons as soon as possible this morning so that I can pack for Susochke’s, and play some ball with Dad this afternoon. After we finish all that, I get to run the show.”  
“Sounds like you guys have everything figured out. Hey Dad,”  
“Yeah.”  
“Am I going with you guys to drop off the rug rat?”  
“If you want to you can. If not, there are always guards around that can look after you.”  
“I’m sixteen dad, I don’t need a baby-sitter.”  
“Maybe not, but I’ve hired them anyway.”  
“Sure. I think I’ll hang out around here. A couple of the younger Ranger trainees are going to show us of the junior class a few moves in hand-to-hand combat and self-defense.”  
“That’s fine with me David just be careful.”  
“Thanks Dad, we will. How long do you think you’ll be gone?”  
“Well, it takes three days to get there. Probably spend the night with them the first night, and then three days for the trip back.”  
“Seven days then.”  
“Yeah, seven days. No parties. I’ll leave Shal Myaan to look in on you.”  
“Yeah right like any of my friends here would be up for a party. Most of them are from the Religious Caste.”  
Delenn looked up sharply from her cooking. “You would be surprised David. Many of my Caste enjoy a good ‘party’.” Her tone, despite the look she gave her elder son, was light and playful.  
“Not the kind Dad’s talking about.” John chuckled at the amused tone in David’s voice, “Besides, Aunt Mayan is off planet again. Actually I think she had a reading on Earth. That’s what she said the last time I spoke to her anyway.” .  
Jade was getting tired of the conversation and made his feelings known by speaking in a loud tone. “Dad if we’re finished I’ll go get a head start on packing for the trip.” He made as if to run off, and John grabbed hold of the denim strap down the middle of Jade’s back. He pulled on it and Jade found himself sliding back toward his chair.  
“Oh, no you don’t. We’re not finished. Sit down and read the next three pages aloud and translate them into Adronato, Mr. Smarty Pants.”  
Jade groaned and sat. He began reading slowly and actually surprised John by mispronouncing only a handful of words. ‘He really is starting to catch on. Good. He’ll need to be able to speak the language, if he ever overcomes his fears and goes to a regular school. Especially if he decides to enroll in Temple.’ The thought of school brought him up short. What were Marcus and Ivanova going to do about his lessons? He asked Delenn when she walked to the table with a tin of biscuits.   
“Susan assures me that he will continue with his lessons. She said something about sending him to, ‘kindergarten,’ I believe the word was, for a half a day.”  
John looked at the little guy sitting next to him. “I don’t like that, Delenn. He’ll be there all alone. What if something comes up?”  
“She also assures me that he will not be alone at the school. She is sending Marcus with him. She says that Marcus is driving her ‘up the wall’ and that he needs something to occupy his time during the days Susan is at work. She is sending him as a bodyguard, and Marcus is perfect in the fact that he knows the three Caste languages. He can teach Jade while he protects. He is also someone Jade knows, and feels comfortable with.”   
“You know, when put that way, I think it’s okay. Jade needs to have contact with other children his age.”  
“Those were my thoughts also.”  
Jade finished reading. “What next, Dad?”  
“Read the next four in Russian.” Jade’s jaw dropped about six inches.  
“I don’t know that much just yet, Dad. You should know you’re the one who’s been teaching me.” Jade said smushing his sentences together in a ramble.  
“I know. I was joking. Just continue in Adronato.”  
“Okay.” Jade began again and John corrected him when he mispronounced a word. David finished his homework while they waited for Delenn to bring the rest of breakfast. Jade eventually tired of translating the book and went to help her. John had been about to protest the desertion of himself by his pupil, but when Jade came in carrying a bowl of gravy he decided to let the ‘rat’ continue helping his mother. Finally, he and Delenn got the food to the table and everyone sat and served themselves. David had to leave after a bit and that left John and Delenn with Jade. Jade finished his breakfast and went to Delenn. She looked him up and down. He smiled and kissed her on her cheek, then he took his plate and glass and accessories to the automatic washer and returned to Delenn’s side.  
“What do you want, silly?”  
“I wanna sit in your lap before you hafta go Mom.”  
She smiled and shook her head. She stared at him hoping the suspense would make him sweat a little. Then in a fit of playfulness she pulled him up and tickled him. When she decided she had finished and he breathed normally once more she kissed him on the forehead. “You need to go and pack.”  
“Okay, Mom.” He started to leave, but when he reached the doorway he turned around walked back to Delenn’s side, and asked, “What are you gonna do while I’m gone?”  
“We will work and spend time together with no interruptions. We will meditate without disturbances. And we will have peace and quiet.” He gave her a wounded look and she laughed while lifting his chin with her fingertips, “I am sure it will be the most dreadful time we have had in months, my son.” He smiled and exited the room.  
“You really mean that don’t you, Hon.”  
“Yes, John, I do. I will miss him greatly. Also I do not look forward to the trials ahead.”  
“I know, but lets not go into that now. The partings will be gloomy enough. We don’t want to add to that.”  
“All right. You are right, of course.” She rose from her chair then and took their plates and utensils to the kitchen and cleaned them. She smiled as she saw Jade’s clean dishes sitting in the drier. She then went back and kissed John softly.   
“You know, we really do need to do something about his nightmares.” John mused, “I just don’t know what to try. He won’t talk to any kind of psychiatrist, even if I were inclined to take him to one, which I’m not. I think that the telepathy has something to do with the dreams, and I doubt a psychiatrist could do anything about that.”  
“Maybe not, but you are right something must be done. It is past time for us to try to help him with them.”  
“I know, but I hoped that his being safe here would be enough, and that after a while they would go away on their own.”  
“Don’t feel guilty about it. Fix it.” Delenn admonished.  
“How though?” He shook his head trying to come up with some ideas.  
“I wonder if meditation would help him. There are rituals, but I don’t think they would help a non-Minbari.”  
“That is a good idea, Delenn. In fact, it’s perfect! I think I know just the place to teach him the meditation techniques, too.” His face was aglow with the renewed aspect of a challenge.  
“Really, it wouldn’t be the Temple of Valen, would it?”  
“How’d you guess? I’m going to need to gather the proper materials and things to teach him.”  
“Are you suggesting teaching him today?” She looked skeptical.  
“The basics, yeah. I can do it this afternoon. It shouldn’t take too long for just the basics. Besides, if it does help him, why not get it started before he goes to Susan’s?”  
“Sounds like you have everything worked out. I’ll have Tannier leave the necessary supplies on the landing beside the door.” She kissed him again. “I hope it works.” Kissing him again she turned and headed to the door. He smiled as she left the room. While he waited for Jade to return he read Universe Today and drank his coffee.


	5. Chapter 5

********************************B5***************************

Delenn, on the way to change for a ranger meeting, decided to stop in Jade’s room to check on his packing job. She found the boy dutifully packing a few of his favorite sets of clothes, and a couple of his favorite toys, including the stuffed bear that John had given him. She smiled every time she saw it, remembering the short lived Babylon 5 merchandise store, and how much John said he hated the bear. Jade even had his family photo packed. She slipped quietly out before he was interrupted by her presence enough to stop packing. Jade finished packing and returned to John. John looked at him for a moment then pulled the little boy into his lap. “Before we start the rest of your lessons for today lets read the comics.”  
Jade smiled and searched the paper for them. He found the comic section and removed it from the rest of the newspaper. John took it from him and read the first scenario. Jade’s turn was the next scenario then back to John and so on until they had read every one of the different comic strips. Delenn had come in at one point and kissed her two men goodbye then went to the meeting.  
Jade stood to ready himself for lessons when John told him to go and get his glove and ball. Jade’s face lit up and he ran for his room. He reappeared a moment later and they went outside. After about two hours of throwing the ball back and forth, pointers on how to throw the different pitches, and a little batting practice John decided that it was Jade’s turn to pick an activity for them.  
“Well, when Tannier taught me the first day this week we went behind one of the waterfalls surrounding the Temple of Valen. I kinda wanted to show it to you.”  
“Well lets get all this stuff upstairs and then you can take me there.”  
“Cool.” Jade grabbed his mitt and ball and also the bat that John had produced. He put his things in his bag to take to Susan’s with him. The bat he put back in John’s storage room, and then headed back to John. He took his dad to the waterfall and they climbed behind it, impressed.  
“Where else has he taken you kiddo?”  
“Mostly we stay in the gardens at home. I had asked him about gravity last week and he said that this would help me to understand the concept because gravity pulls the water down over the cliff creating the waterfall.”  
“Would you mind if we went and got some lunch now, kiddo? It’s almost noon and Mom will be home to eat with us.”  
“Sure. Lets go Dad.” They climbed back down and Jade held his father’s hand as they walked back to the house. Delenn met them at the door.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn entered an empty house. She wondered for a minute if maybe John had taken Jade somewhere special for his lesson today. Then she decided that more likely he let Jade have the rest of the day off after he read the book this morning. She decided to amble in the house gardens near the door to await their return. She walked among the Human and Minbari flowers and smelled the different aromas. The sweet aroma of the Rowandan Daisies intermingling with the Jalrala Bush’s sharp smell made her think of the Maze on Babylon 5 Where she had first told John of the Shadows. At length she heard the door cycle and went to meet the wayward travelers.  
“Hi Mom.”  
“Hello there, my little one.” She gathered him into her arms as he ran up. John followed at an easier pace. When he reached them he kissed her on the lips. He expected a groan from the boy in her arms, but none was forthcoming.  
“Ready to get lunch?”  
“Yeah.” Jade squiggled out of Delenn’s arms and took the hands of both his parents leading them into the dinning room. Lunch was pleasant as usual, and after lunch John and Jade went back out to explore some more. Delenn, already anxious about John’s afternoon plan, stayed at the house to finish up the paper work she’d brought home with her, feeling that returning to her office wouldn’t be any more productive than working at the house.

********************************B5***************************

John led the way this time with Jade following passively. He led the boy in a round about way to the Temple of Valen. They entered through a little used door, and John led his now curious son down a passage and then up the stairs. Jade began to ask questions about their destination. John deflected them and continued to climb the dimly lit stairs. They climbed for about fifteen minutes and stopped intermittently at the landings between every twenty-four steps. John decided to speak to someone about installing a lift, and to hell with the traditional climb and whatever significance it held. By the time they got to the end of their climb Jade was complaining of a pain in his side, and John wondered if the newly healed ribs were the cause, or maybe the lung. ‘I’ll have to carry him down part of the way.’ He thought.  
He knew, though, that the end of their trip would make the climb insignificant. He turned to Jade, “Close your eyes buddy.”  
Jade gave him a wry look, “Why Dad?”  
“Because this is a surprise.” Jade thought about it for a moment then rolled his eyes and closed them. John smiled and took hold of his boy’s hand. He then turned back and cycled the door. He led Jade out onto a landing and closed the door behind them. He positioned Jade in the exact center of the landing and bade him open his eyes.

********************************B5***************************

Jade heard his dad say he could open his eyes and he complied. When they opened they immediately widened in wonder. Before him was the city of Tuzanor laid out in a perfect array around the Temple. He looked upward at the spires on either side of the landing. In the background he heard the waterfalls gentle humming rhythm and the melodic sighs of the breezes around and through the crystal spires. He felt upon his skin the warm afternoon sun’s rays. His smile beamed toward John for a moment and he turned back to the sight before him. John watched his face light up at the sights around them. John himself took a moment to luxuriate in the sight. He returned his eyes to Jade’s reactions which seemed to trivialize the majestic view. The small body gravitated to him and John lifted him into his arms, hugging him softly.  
“Dad,” his voice was awed, “this is wonderful.”  
“I hoped you would like it.” While Jade was engaged in the view, John looked toward the door again. He spotted the bag that he’d instructed Tannier to deposit there. Setting Jade on his feet John walked over to it. He lifted it and returned to the boy’s side. He then opened the bag and pulled out a thin meditation blanket. He spread it out over a section of the landing. He then bade Jade to sit upon it.  
“I decided that it was time you learned to quiet your mind with the meditation rituals of the Anla’Shok. This being your favorite building on Minbar I decided that your lessons should be conducted here. Your Mom says that Valen came here to meditate and calm himself.”  
“What do I do, Dad?” Jade asked from his seated position.  
“Close your eyes. Not too tightly, let your body relax. Breathe deep, even breaths, and imagine yourself in the most comfortable place you have ever been.”  
Jade did as he was told. “Okay, what now?”  
“Be silent and calm, keep breathing and keep imagining your safe place. Got it?” Jade nodded slowly. “Good now let your mind wander to other good things. A beautiful picture or a wondrous sight or a soothing smell.” He paused for a moment. “Got it again?” Another nod. “Now let your mind take you to your dreams. Watch them like you would a vid.” He watched the play of emotions on Jade’s small round face. The look changed from one of peace to one of distress. “Pull back if you get scared Jade, go to your safe place. This is a way of mastering fears and solving riddles that the day presents you.”  
Jade again nodded. Then his mind wandered once more.

********************************B5***************************

In his mind he saw all that he had dreamed since he’d been safe. His former parents, his sister, his family. Then he saw Bishop. In his mind he turned to run, and then he heard John say that in this state he could do anything he wanted; that he controlled the events. He stopped then and faced Bishop. The man looked taken aback by his sudden stand. Jade watched him for a moment. The Man was not so intimidating after all. His eyes were a dark, ocean water blue. He had widow’s peaks in his thinning dark hair. Jade noticed that without the almost permanent scowl he looked rather pleasant. Jade looked at him and took all this in and then he stood firmly in front of the man who’d tormented him. “You can not harm me any longer. I am safe with my Mom and Dad.” Bishop’s image faded to almost nothing. He didn’t disappear completely but he was no longer a solid threat.  
Jade then walked to his former parents and sister. “I miss you all, but I can’t stay with you. I have a new Mom and Dad now. The men that harmed all of you have been taken care of. They all are on trial. Bishop has already had his sentence carried out. He is dead now. My mom and dad are nice people. I really love them a lot. Dad is the President of the Alliance. Mom heads the rangers. They are teaching me so many things. I am okay, you can go wherever it is that freed spirits go. I don’t need you anymore.”  
His former mother and father came forward and held him between them momentarily enfolded in their hug. When they released him he saw that their mouths were moving, but no sound came out. He smiled at them and turned away.   
As he turned he saw a new terror begin. Susochke was bleeding on the ground. The man that had cut her was nowhere to be found. He ran to her and cradled her head in his hands. “Susochke. No. Susochke.” He knelt and placed her head on his legs. He took hold of her shoulders and shook her with all his might. “Wake up Susochke!”

********************************B5***************************

John saw Jade’s face twist in agony. “Jade remember your safe place, go back there if it is too hard to see something.” He took the boy’s hand hoping to comfort him when there was no response. He knew he wasn’t supposed to. The distraction it presented was not permitted, but the look was overwhelming for him to behold. Jade pulled loose though, and continued in his meditation.

********************************B5***************************  
Jade only heard his father’s reminder from a great distance and was unable to respond. the state he was in taking him deeper and deeper as though he needed to see these upsetting things. As though he needed to figure them out and possibly keep them from happening.  
Susochke opened her eyes slowly. “Jade, where are we?”   
“I don’t know. Are you okay?”  
“No sweetling, I’m very cold.”  
“I’ll see if I can find a blanket.”  
“No, don’t leave, my Dushenka. Help me to stand. We both must leave this place.”  
Jade helped her to stand, and they began walking. He was leading her and didn’t know where he was going. Eventually they made their way to a small cave. Jade didn’t know how they’d gotten there or even how they’d gotten outside for that matter. Then there was a woman before them. Jade didn’t recognize her, but David was standing behind her. He looked battered and bruised but otherwise okay. The two of them took Susochke and helped her to lie at the back of the cave. Jade sat beside her and held her hand. The woman bandaged the cuts on her arms, after cleaning them with warm water and putting a healing salve on them. Jade calmed and the vision shifted again. He saw Mom and Dad, they were on a Whitestar. Dad sat in the captain’s seat. Mom stood to his left. He held her hands with his and looked at the damage around them. He then realized that he was not actually with them, and left their side to look around. He saw hyperspace out of the view port and then he saw the damage to the ship. Jade became aware that they were drifting in Hyperspace.   
Again the Dream shifted. Marcus charged into the cave and came to them at the back. He lifted Susan off the mat and Jade stood as he did so. Marcus then instructed David and the woman to follow him. Jade had a hold on Marcus’s cloak and followed him. They made a long hike to a shuttle and boarded it. Marcus got Susochke and him settled in a bunk and then departed the room. Jade felt the engines start up and then the lift off.  
He remembered his dad’s words, and his safe place and decided that he’d had enough of this and went back to it. He slowly let the terror leave him and . . . .

********************************B5***************************

John watched as Jade took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Dusk had fallen during Jade’s meditation, and John had begun to worry at the length of time, admitted it was shorter than his and Delenn’s meditations lasted. Jade was a child after all, but he’d been sitting there for a good twenty minutes. It had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done, sitting and watching and refraining from physically pulling Jade out of the trance he’d appeared to be in. He’d feared leaving Jade in that position, but he’d feared that his interruption would do more harm than good. He’d experienced much the same thing with David’s first meditation. Delenn had explained then that it was dangerous to interrupt the process of learning.  
He hesitated to touch is son, and before John could make a move Jade threw himself at his father. John squeezed his son to him. They sat there holding on to each other for a long time. Jade normalized his breathing as he let John comfort him. “I did it, Dad. I made him go away.”  
“You did a very good job, son. Next time I’ll be able to help more, but this was for you to learn what the meditation state is like to spend time in that state and get used to it.” Jade nodded and John turned him around and they watched the sunset together, John resting his chin on Jade’s shoulder and his bearded cheek against Jade’s smooth one. Jade leaned heavily upon him exhausted by his ordeal. John sighed, ‘It’s going to be an early night tonight.’ He pushed Jade to his feet after darkness had fallen. “Lets head home, Pal. We’re going to be late for dinner.” Jade nodded and helped John to repack all the meditation stuff. Once that chore was finished John opened the door and led the way down the stairs carrying the pack over a shoulder.   
They reached the ground floor after a while. It didn’t take as long as Jade had thought it would. John had been prepared to carry Jade most of the way down the stairs, but Jade had said nothing and trudged along beside him. The little guy looked exhausted, and John was of half a mind to carry him anyway, but he refrained; choosing, instead, to allow Jade to decide if he needed assistance. The pair exited the Temple of Valen and began the walk home. Jade stumbled after a few yards, and John caught him and lifted him off the ground. Jade wrapped his arms around John’s neck, and dozed all the way back to the house.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn had utilized the house staff, for once, and had them prepare the meal for dinner. She sat impatiently in the den staring listlessly at the papers on her desk. She had figured on the lessons taking less time than this. They had been gone since late afternoon, and she was anxious for their return, hoping Jade would speak of what he’d learned.   
She had left instructions upon nightfall with the door guard to notify her of their immediate return. So, when she got the call, she raced down the stairs to meet them. The sight of John carrying their slumbering son was a welcome one. She took the boy into her own arms and looked at John inquisitively. He shook his head and they ascended the stairs. John was quiet for most of the walk. Finally, he asked, “Where’s David? What time is it?”   
“Studying in his room. He ate a while ago. I had dinner moved upstairs when you didn’t return at sunset. I thought it might be easier than eating then climbing the stairs. It is still rather early this night. Only 1800 hours it is still two standard hours before he should be sleeping.”  
“Good idea, I think I am as exhausted as he is.” They entered the breakfast room and two of the worker caste members assigned to the house scrambled from their conversation to ready the plates and serve them. John, who usually couldn’t stand the attention didn’t seem to care, and that told Delenn that he was as tired as the fatigued child in her lap.   
“I also thought it would be best if I, being distracted, did not cook the meal.”  
John just nodded rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. Jade then stirred in her arms, “Hi Mom.”  
“Hello, little one. You have had an exhausting day. Eat what you can, and then I will help you get ready for bed.” He nodded and turned in her lap to begin eating slowly.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn got Jade settled into his bed and returned to her and John’s room. John was half asleep when she climbed into the bed, and he rolled to her as she settled herself. “How did it go, John? The meditation I mean.”   
“It went...well, I‘m not really sure Delenn. He seemed to do wonderful at first, but at a certain point his face twisted into a grimace, and it nearly broke my heart. I actually reached out to him before I could stop myself. He shrugged me off. His face went through so many emotions. I just, I had to turn away after a while, I didn’t leave him but I was so close to pulling him back that if I hadn’t looked away for a bit...” he trailed off and she heard the fear and hurt in his voice. “I might have hurt him worse, Delenn. I looked out over the land for a minute to regroup and then I went back to watching again. He came out of it a bit later and I was afraid to touch him. He came to me though, hugged me with all he had left. I could feel how tired he was after just twenty minutes or so of meditation. Then we watched the sunset.”  
“He did not speak of what he saw and experienced.”  
“No, and I figured he was too tired for me to ask. He would’ve felt he was required to answer, and I didn’t want to make him feel like he had an obligation.” She nodded in understanding.  
“I will ask him tomorrow. He will be rested and it will give us things to talk about on the Whitestar. Sleep now, love.” John took her word and allowed his eyes to drift closed.  
“Don’t watch me, lady. You need rest too.” She noted his concerned tone.  
“Don’t worry, I will sleep when I am ready.”  
“Okay.” His movement ceased and in a short while his breathing was deep and placid. Eventually she drifted off herself.

********************************B5***************************

Exhausted as Jade had been Delenn had expected he would sleep well, and for a while he did sleep well. Then the visions from his meditation surfaced once again and plagued his rest. She heard him over the comm and went to him. He was writhing on the bed. She suspected it had been the same the night John had cared for him. She didn’t waste time waking him up, she just lifted him into her arms and carried him to her and John’s bed. She lie down with him and noticed that his struggles were less severe as she curled around him.  
He opened his eyes just as she began to believe he had slipped into a more peaceful slumber. He watched her for a moment, then began to speak softly. “I dreamed what I saw earlier. In my meditation. A place with fire and Susochke was cut and bleeding. David was there and he looked all bruised and beaten, like I did before when you first found me. Mommy, I don’t think it was really a dream. I’ve been having it for a while now. Even the night that Dad slept with me. I can feel when it starts but I can’t stop dreaming it, and I can’t wake up. I don’t know what it is though.” He took a deep breath, and continued. “It wasn’t about him. I made him go away this afternoon. It wasn’t hard. I just let him fade away from me. I saw my other family too and told them they should leave because I have you now. They told me goodbye and then what I saw changed to what I have been dreaming. Dad told me I could control what was happening in my meditation, but when I tried to it didn’t work on the dream. It did on him and my family, but not my dreams. Why?”  
“I don’t know little one. I wish I did. I wish that I could make them stop, but I don’t know how, my little love. Just hold onto me and know that I am here.” He nodded and hugged her tightly. She held him equally tight and he drifted off once more. She lay thinking for a long time after that. She feared that he was having a telepathic premonition as he’d told Susan earlier in the week. That scared her to no end. Especially, if David and Susan and her smaller son were involved. She eventually slept and her slumber was untroubled only because she knew that her sons and John were safe within their home.

********************************B5***************************

 

Delenn woke to John’s alarm. Jade was tangled around her with his head pillowed on her stomach as it always ended up. John however was neither in the bed nor in the room. She became curious, but was loathe to move and wake Jade. So she simply lie in bed and watched him sleep, while trying not to worry about the dreams he’d spoken of. About twenty minutes had passed when John entered the room. He walked quietly to her side and sat on the bed. “Good morning.” She greeted, “Again you forgot to turn off the alarm.”  
“Actually, no I didn’t. We have a date with a Whitestar remember.”  
“How could I forget that we are taking Jade to Susan. He will be gone for an entire month. I believe I will be beside myself John, I won’t know what to do.”  
“I can think of a few things, my love. I guess I’ll just have to help you figure them out as well.” His tone was playfully seductive, and she gave him an admonishing look. “Seriously, I think our time will be pretty full.” She only nodded and turned back to watch Jade sleep. “He didn’t wake up when the alarm went off?”  
“No, he had a very rough night last night.”  
“I knew he was having nightmares again, but I guess I didn’t realize just how bad they were.”  
“John...” she trailed off looking again to the boy lying half atop her, “I do not think he has been having the nightmares of late. He spoke of his dreams a bit last night. I know he did not tell me all of what he sees, but what he did....John I think that he is experiencing a vision of events that are going to happen.”  
John looked dumbfounded. He didn’t even try to respond. He just took her hand and held it as they watched Jade sleep.

********************************B5***************************

Jade awoke and gazed into the eyes of his Mom and Dad, who were watching him sleep. “Hi guys.”  
“Good morning Pal. You should get up and get dressed. We’re heading to Earth today remember.” He nodded his small head.  
His small face lit up like a candle. “Yep, we’re goin’ ta Susochke’s today.”  
“Well we’re heading that way anyhow. We won’t arrive for three standard days. We’ll get you there just in time to start school.”  
“Why couldn’t we have left earlier? Then I coulda spent the weekend with Susochke and Marcus.”  
“Stop whining, and go get dressed young man. We are leaving after breakfast.” One corner of his mouth lifted in contrition, and his arms hugged his mother. Then, out of no where, his entire mood changed.  
“Can’t we just stay in bed for a while? It’s safe here.” Delenn grimaced slightly as she began to understand what had brought that on, and hugged him more tightly against herself.  
“More of the same thing?” He nodded against her stomach, and she cradled him closer to her still, as she sat up. John gave her a questioning look. ‘The dreams,’ she mouthed to him, while gently rocking back and forth. He nodded and looked to the floor with an acetous expression, the pain and worry over his son’s distress etched clearly on his face. Jade held tightly to her and she finally decided that they were going to get no where just sitting there. She had to do something to get their minds off this track. “Come, I will go with you and help you pick something to wear.”  
He nodded again, but made no move to leave her arms. So she stood with help from John, and then grabbed her robe off the end of the bed. John was again instrumental in her putting it on successfully. She then walked to Jade’s room next door. He allowed her to set him on the edge of his jumbled bed so that she could pick out his outfit for today. He got himself dressed with a little help from her, and then they made his bed. “Why don’t you go and find Dad, dear one? I still need to get ready for the day.”   
“Okay.” He sounded more stable than when he’d last spoken, and Delenn took this as a good sign. He hastened off, and she went to change.

********************************B5***************************

John and David were in the breakfast room speaking of inconsequential things when Jade entered. To John he appeared to be in a better mood. David took in the apprehensive look his father’s expression held and could only guess at its meaning. Jade looked fine to him.  
“Hey, excited about going on the Whitestar?” He asked his brother.  
“Yeah, I been looking forward to it all week.” His voice was an even unexcited tone.  
“I’ve been,” he corrected. “Don’t have too much fun at Aunt Susan’s okay?”  
“Of course I will, just not the same kind as here, David.”  
David’s mouth curled in a smile that was the perfect replica of his father’s toothy grin. “Okay, just as long as it’s not the same as here.” Jade smiled back, and unknown to them all, his smile was also a replica of his father’s the only difference was the tips of his top pearly whites showed in his smile. Jade then climbed into John’s lap and helped him read the sports section of Universe Today. Delenn appeared a few minutes later, and they ate breakfast as a family just as they had since David’s birth and before.

********************************B5***************************

David walked them to the landing pad, having asked his instructor before hand if he could have the morning off, or as much as was needed, to say goodbye to his brother. He carried Jade most of the way, and they spoke in hushed, conspiratorial whispers. Both would occasionally look toward their parents and grin.  
Delenn was a little disconcerted, but John chuckled every time one of the two looked at them walking hand in hand a few discreet paces behind them. Delenn calmed as it became apparent that Jade had cheered considerably. Finally, they arrived at their destination.   
David set Jade on his feet, and Jade hugged his older brother one more time. He then took his backpack from John and stood aside so that John and Delenn could speak with David. He watched as John shook his son’s hand and turned the handshake into a hug. Then as Delenn embraced him as well. David kissed his mother on the cheek a final time, and they turned and walked toward Jade. He took his dad’s offered hand and they boarded the Whitestar.

********************************B5***************************

Lift off was smooth, as was the jump to hyperspace. Jade had the privilege of sitting in his father’s lap on the bridge of the Whitestar as they went into Hyperspace. John, if asked, would swear that he thought the kid’s eyes were about to pop out of his skull. After the jump John relinquished control to the ranger, who’s ship this was, and retreated with Jade to the state rooms they’d be staying in for the next three days. The rooms were in actuality converted crew quarters. A normal bed had been added and the slanted ones discarded. They were somewhat reminiscent of Mr. Garibaldi’s quarters on station. Different areas of the room were set off by the furniture that sat around.   
“Dad, when will we get to Susochke’s?”  
“Sometime on Sunday, Pal.”  
“Sunday?”  
“Yeah, the first day of the week on the Earth calendar.”  
“Oh.” The soft voice sounded unsure.  
“I guess I’ll just have to show you kiddo.” With that he entered their rooms and sat Jade on the couch within. He called up a representation of the calendar on the veiwscreen and taught Jade the specifics of the Earth Calendar. “So, you see, where Minbar has nine days to it’s week, Earth has only seven. They are...” his voice trailed off expectantly.  
“Monday, no wait. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thurs...no, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Right?”  
“Not bad, Pal. A lot of people say Monday is the first day of the week, since most people return to work on Monday. But Sunday has always been the actual first day of the week.” John went on to tell him the reasoning behind it.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn had been listening to them at first, but soon tired of the lessons and decided to catch up on her own reading. She sat in a quieter corner of the room across from where John’s lesson was taking place and read, every once in a while she would look up and listen as John moved from topic to topic to keep their small, inquisitive son occupied.  
She took over after lunch and they read in Adronato, so that Jade would keep in practice. He even suggested that they use Adronato for the entirety of the trip to Earth and Delenn agreed that it would be good practice for him. He smiled and thanked her using her native language.  
John had decided to get in some pike practice while Delenn held Jade’s reading lesson. He returned to find them conversing in Adronato and was shocked when Jade greeted him using the language. It must have shown because the boy giggled until he fell off the couch.  
[Smooth kiddo, real smooth. Did I look that funny?]  
[Yes you did Father.]  
Delenn interrupted and explained, [Jade decided that it would be a good idea if we spoke only in Adronato for the trip to Earth. I agreed.]  
[Well, then I’ll just have to go along with it.] The comm beeped interrupting anything further. “Yes?” John answered.   
The captain’s voice was heard over the Comm, “Incoming transmission for Entil’zha Delenn.”  
Delenn looked at John and replied, “Send it to the monitor in the briefing room I will be there in a moment.” John nodded and she was off. He smiled at Jade as she exited the room.  
[So, what gave you the idea to speak in Adronato for the rest of the trip?]  
[I figured that if we were speaking it all the time it would eliminate the need for lessons in it, and leave more time for exploration.] John laughed wholeheartedly.  
[Good idea, just don’t tell Mother, okay.]  
[Do I look stupid to you?] This brought another throaty laugh from his dad, and Jade smiled at his accomplishments. First creating a diversion from his lessons, and then to diffuse the tension he felt in his father after Delenn had left the room.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn entered the briefing room to find Sech Turval’s image waiting for her. “Sorry for the delay, Turval. I didn’t want any news, good or bad, to come in front of Jade.”  
“I understand, Entil’zha. I wanted to inform you that we received the latest signal. They have reached the last jump off point and are on their way to the planet now. We will know more when the teams have landed and established contact.”  
“Good. Keep me informed of any, and I mean all, developments.”  
“Of course, Entil’zha. Now, if I may be informal for a bit,” he paused for her nod, “How are things with your new son? Any more of the nightmares after his lesson in meditation?”  
“Yes, but not the ones he was having before the meditation. These are different, and in some ways more frightening. If I am correct in my assumption he is having flashes of things that could happen in the near future.”  
“It sounds as if he should speak with one of the telepaths aboard the Whitestar.”  
Delenn hadn’t even thought of that. “That is a good idea Turval, thank you. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. I should talk to Alisa Beldon, the True Seeker.”  
“Sometimes when you are too close to the source, the solution passes you by.”  
Delenn cocked an eyebrow at the old adage and thanked him once again before signing off. She then returned to find John and Jade giggling like drunken Centauri.   
[What is going on here?]  
John tried to tell her, but his laughing got in the way and made him laugh all the harder. Then Jade’s attempt failed and they laughed harder still.  
[If you two do not calm down I will have to summon a doctor to make certain you have not been drugged.] John who had been calming started up again. Jade was having trouble breathing though and a coughing spasm began. This sobered John quickly, and he dashed to get Jade a glass of water. Delenn sat beside him and lifted him onto her lap. [Take deep, slow breaths Jade. Your lung was not ready for this it seems.]  
He continued to cough for a while until John got back with the water. Jade took a small sip between coughs and it seemed to help. Then when he took a second sip a spasm drew the water down the wrong path and the coughing began again. John took the water, and finally the paroxysm passed, and John helped him take another drink. He gulped the water down, and then took a few more deep breaths. [Sorry, I’m sorry I scared you. I said a phrase wrong and then Dad told me the story about Susochke teaching herself to speak Adronato, and we started laughing. Every time we thought we were going to stop something would make us start again. I’m sorry I got choked.]  
[Don’t be sorry Jade. It wasn’t your fault.]  
[I’m sorry, I know, it wasn’t anyone’s fault, but I scared you and Mom.]  
[Stop apologizing. You have no reason to be sorry. Things like this happen.]  
[I can’t help it.] He smiled at her. She returned his smile, and held him to her, deciding that this was not the time for them to speak with one of the telepaths. That they would just relax for this night. She even went so far as to put him to sleep in the bed between them from the beginning of the night, and not surprising, they were well rested the next morning. The rest of the trip was relatively smooth as well.


	6. Chapter 6

********************************B5***************************

The Whitestar landed on the tarmac near Earthdome at a little after fourteen hundred hours EST. Susan and Marcus stood as close as safety would permit. As soon as it touched and the engines were powered down Susan was striding purposefully toward the boarding ramp. Jade appeared at the top of it, a backpack secured on his back, and each of his hands held one of his parents. As soon as he saw her, he dropped their hands and sprinted to her. He jumped the last few steps into her open arms. “Susochke!!!!” She hugged him to her tightly.  
“It’s good to see you, my Dushenka.”  
He started to answer her, and promptly switched languages from English to Russian, [I missed you, Susochke. It is wonderful to see you again.]  
She looked at him startled, and answered him in the same language. He listened attentively, although he only understood I missed you too. It must have shown on his face that he didn’t completely understand. So she switched back to English, “Don’t worry I’ll teach you some more if you like.” Jade smiled and nodded at her emphatically. By this time John and Delenn had descended the ramp and were being greeted by Marcus.  
Susan turned to them and greeted them with hugs for both as Jade was transferred to Marcus.  
“How have you been little man?”  
Using Adronato he answered, [Just fine, except for my dreams.]  
Susan looked up sharply from her conversation with John and Delenn. “He learns fast. It took me two years to learn.”  
“Don’t I know it.” John rejoined a bit jealously, “He learned a hell of a lot faster than I did too. He still makes some mistakes, but not many.” Greetings finished the group headed toward the waiting ground-car that would take them to Marcus and Susan’s home.

********************************B5***************************

Marcus opened the door, since Susan had her arms full of an overexcited six year old. He was animatedly describing his recent fall into the icy stream in front of the house on Minbar. John, who’d heard the story a few times and witnessed the whole thing, decided that he just liked to tell the story. Delenn was just relieved that Jade’s mood had evened out. During the trip his moods had become more and more erratic. He’d be happy and excited one minute and the next he’d be holding onto her in fear and again in the next he’d be restless and ready to get out of their rooms. She had taken him to the medical suite and had him checked over. The doctors hadn’t found anything. She decided, finally, that it was the return of the vengeful dreams. When she’d tried to get him to talk to a telepath he’d refused.  
Marcus led the tour of the house John and Jade following him closely with Susan and Delenn hanging back a little to converse. Delenn filled Susan in on the events of their trip, and the past few days’ troubles.  
“I’ll talk to him. Personally, I haven’t had any premonitions like that, but I have knowledge of them from my childhood. My mother experienced them quite often. Especially where her children were concerned.”  
“That would help to put my mind at ease Susan. I would have called Lyta, but since she knew he was coming here she dropped out of sight again. I think that she and Mr. Allen wanted some time together.”  
“I don’t think so. A couple months ago Zack called me up and said he’d moved here to Earth and was holding a Security job with one of the Earthside subsidiaries of Edgar’s Industries. They’ve had a falling out and Zack said that it was time for a change. I guess they should have kept it platonic.”  
Delenn nodded in understanding. “Then, perhaps she needed some time to come to terms with their separation.”  
“That would be my guess. How’s Garibaldi doing?”  
“He returned to Mars almost a month ago. He and Lise have, once again, worked things out. Which is good not only for them, but also for Mary.”  
“I met her and Lise a little over a month ago; they were on a shopping trip here. She spoke of possibly reconciling with Michael. Mary definitely takes after her father though.”  
“Yes she has his way of being blunt without being insulting. Well, too insulting anyway. I have always found her to be a delight.”  
“Wouldn’t know I only spoke with them for a few minutes. I was thinking in looks. She has Michael’s eyes and nose on her mother’s face, and his smile. You know the one that’s infectious.” Delenn nodded and smiled.  
Jade came running down the hall to where they’d fallen behind. “Come on, Mommy. Marcus says that Susochke has to show me my room. He won’t even let me open the door.” Delenn smiled at his excitement and allowed him to drag her by the hand all the way to the door where John and Marcus stood in conversation. Susan had little choice but to keep up with them.

********************************B5***************************

Susan made Jade close his eyes and then opened the door. John, Marcus, and Delenn preceded them inside. Susan then guided him into the room, “Okay, Dushenka, open them.”  
He did and was amazed at the sight. His bed was as big as David’s. It was pushed against the back wall; the head board touching the wall, and the foot of the bed across from the door. The head board had a shelf to keep books on it. He decided that the family portrait would go there under the lamp that seemed to be attached to the back panel of the headboard. The bed itself looked funny, he noticed it move as John sat on it. John sighed in pleasure. “Where on Earth, did you two find a good, old fashioned waterbed? And why give it to him. I’d have kept it for myself.”  
“Being a general has its perks, and I thought the rocking might help him sleep better.”  
To the left of the bed was a desk with an office chair pushed under it. A freestanding monitor sat in the right corner of the desk. It was hooked to a keyboard. He looked to Susan with amazement. “My own computer terminal.”  
“Yes, with a condition that your homework is done before you play the games, or read the books stored in the memory.”  
“Deal.” He stated eagerly, eyes alight with joy.   
On the other side of the bed facing the wall that the bed stood against was a small armchair. It faced a wall monitor that had a funny-looking gadget hooked to it. “What’s that?” He asked.  
“It is an antique video game system, I think its called Nintendo. Garibaldi had it on Babylon 5. He said that he appropriated it from somewhere, he has the original system still, but had a duplicate made because he was curious about it. It took a lot of doing too. The thing wasn’t even compatible with the power outlets in here.” She raised an amused eyebrow. “And when he moved back to Mars, he decided that he didn’t have the time to figure out how it worked. So, he asked me if I knew anyone who might want it. After talking to your Mom and Dad, and hearing how much you enjoyed playing games. I decided to keep it for you to figure out.”  
“Cool.” He continued his perusal of the room. He looked in the closet on the left wall and saw that Susan did indeed have a collection of outfits waiting for him. “Wow, there are more clothes in here than I have at home all together, even the ones in my dresser.”  
Susan blushed a light shade of pink. “I did go a little overboard I guess, but I kept seeing these really cute sets that would look great on him.”  
John and Marcus shook their heads. Delenn understood perfectly though. The reason he didn’t have a closet full at home was only because John had been with them when she’d gone shopping for Jade. She suspected that this trait of buying a set of clothing simply because the child would look cute in it was a result of her change. It could also stem from the fact that Jade abhorred Minbari style clothing, preferring human play clothes. There were so many different choices of clothing, she’d had a hard time deciding on just a few when they’d gone shopping on Earth. Minbar wasn’t noted for its fine human style clothes. There were only a few shops for human clothing since a limited number of humans were living on Minbar as Rangers.  
John marveled at the uncharacteristic show from Susan. He wasn’t used to seeing her so openly emotional. He didn’t say anything though. He just continued to watch his son discover the things that he and Delenn had helped Susan decide to include in his room. At home they were going to let him make his own decorative decisions as he got older, and they’d explained this to him. He had already made a few choices that John was having carried out this month, like a bigger bed. Susan, however, had wanted to give him all the things he’d love as it was right now.   
Delenn looked around the room herself. She’d helped Susan decide on some of the things in here. Others were a surprise, though. She didn’t remember the mosaic on the walls and ceiling being discussed. The paintings on the walls Delenn did not recognize, but the ceiling was a Minbari night sky. She liked the fact that there was an adjoining doorway between his and Susan’s rooms. She even thought briefly about adding one at the house, but decided that she should talk to John about it later when they got home.  
Jade looked at his ceiling and his brow furrowed as he pondered why it bothered him slightly. Finally he said, “Computer lights off.” The computer complied, and the ceiling glowed, it was a starscape of the night sky on Minbar. Jade noticed a few of the constellations that John had pointed out to him on one of the nights they’d gone out to look at the stars. “Wooooowwwww.” His voice held awe.  
Susan smiled and said, “I hoped you would like it.”  
“I do, Susochke, I love it.” He went to her side and took hold of her hand. “This is the best. Thanks.”  
“You are quite welcome. I wanted you to feel at home here, as you do on Minbar.”  
He smiled and let go of her hand to climb up on the bed with his father. “Cool. I like how it moves.”  
“Glad you like it.” She lifted him off the bed into her arms.  
“Susochke, Daddy said that you were gonna put me in a school. Is it true?”  
“Yes, Dushenka, you need to be around other children.”  
He looked thoughtful for a moment then an impish glint came into his eyes. “Mommy told us that Marcus was gonna go with me. Does he need to be around other kids too?” John cracked up. Delenn looked at her son in amusement. She was glad to see his mood remained steady. Marcus gave him a look of mock aggravation. Jade smiled and rested his head on Susan’s shoulder.  
Marcus spoke up, “Why don’t we go back to the living room? It’ll be more comfortable to talk.”  
“I don’t know.” John said. “This bed is pretty darned comfortable.” He leaned back to rest with his legs hanging over the side. Delenn walked over, her curiosity finally getting the best of her. She rested a hand on the mattress. It felt warm and soft. She didn’t see what the fuss was about though, and said so. No one bothered to answer her as John took her hand and pulled her onto the bed with him. She then caught the full extent of the wavy motions letting out a startled gasp. She’d seen it when Jade had pounced onto the bed, but hadn’t realized that it was that extreme.  
“John Sheridan! Do not do that again.” Her voice was firm, but John heard the tremor of fright.  
“Sorry, just couldn’t resist having you lying beside me in a waterbed.” He was sympathetic with her discomfiture and sat up pulling her with him keeping a safe steady arm around her.  
“You are an overgrown child sometimes.” She kissed his cheek as she stood. “Come Jade, let us go somewhere that the company is less juvenile.” She held out a hand and Jade squirmed loose of Susan’s arms to take it and follow her past Susan and Marcus’s bedroom into the living room. Susan followed.  
Jade let go of Delenn’s hand as they entered, and went to sit on the couch. His mother joined him. He spoke up as Susan entered behind them, “When do I go to the school, Susochke?”  
“You are going to start tomorrow, sweetling.”  
“So soon. What about if I don’t like it there?”  
“If you don’t like it then we’ll find a way for you to have your lessons here at the house, but I want you to give it a week at least. Just to try it out.” She turned her attention to Delenn. “How long are you two planning on staying? I hope a couple of days at least?”  
Delenn looked anxious, “We are heading back to Minbar tomorrow afternoon. I wanted to see Jade to school, since it is the first day he will be going. I have heard that the first day of school is a very special experience.”  
“You sure that you can’t stay an extra day or so?”  
“No, I have pressing business with the Rangers waiting for me at home.” Susan nodded her head, knowing better than to ask about what was obviously, if not classified, a very precarious topic.   
“Well at least you can be here for the first transitional day. Jade, I think, will need you at least that long. He’s getting used to a whole new place.”  
“Stop talking about me like I’m not here.” He said indignantly. “I am glad Mom and Dad will be here, but even if they couldn’t be I got you and Marcus to help me.”  
“Sorry, Jade.” Susan said, “I guess I figured that after being away from me so long you wouldn’t feel comfortable any longer.”  
“That’s just silly, Susochke.”   
Susan lifted him up for another hug in relief. “That’s what I thought you’d say, but there was always that little bit of doubt in the very back of my mind.”  
“Well, didn’t I just prove that part wrong.”  
“Yes, you did, and I thank you for it.” She set him back on his feet. “I had better get started on dinner. It’ll take a couple hours to prepare. I have recently become interested in learning to cook the traditional Russian meals that my parents were fond of.”  
“Will you be needing any help, Susan?”  
“No, Delenn. You and John are guests. I’ll worry about cooking and cleaning. You just come sit at the table and keep me company.”

********************************B5***************************

John still sat on the bed speaking with Marcus who’d pulled up the armchair near the bed. “--gave the order on Monday so the rangers won’t be there for another couple days a week at the outside. They have been trained specially for the insertion and other more sensitive areas that they needed for the mission.”  
“Sounds as if things are about to get very complicated.”   
“Yes it does, doesn’t it. I’m almost glad this started simultaneously with Jade’s visit here. This way if anything happens, Jade will be safe here with you and Susan, and Delenn and I won’t have to worry about anything but David. If things do get going the way we want them, Susan will be called to head a squadron of Whitestars, and you will most likely be summoned to help the rangers. If that happens I will bring David here and pick Jade up to take them both to my dad’s place in Minnesota.”  
“Thanks for the warning. Now I’ll know what to expect.”  
“No problem, I thought you should know. Just don’t mention anything in front of Delenn. It really upsets her to know that we are going to war once again, and that she was the one to start it.”  
“My lips are sealed.”  
“Good. Lets join our ladies and my son, before they forget that we are in existence.”

********************************B5***************************

That evening was spent getting caught up with their friends lives. Jade sat with Delenn as she and John and Marcus sat around the kitchen table while Susan cooked dinner. After a pleasant meal they sat and talked for a while in the living room. Then Susan decided it was time for all little boys who had school the next day to go to bed. Jade had long been settled when Delenn decided to turn in as well, leaving the other three alone to talk.  
Delenn walked into the room where Jade’s slumbering form huddled in the center of the bed. She readied herself for bed and crawled in beside him. She rolled to watch her small son sleep, and brushed a lock of hair from his forehead. She watched him until she herself dozed off without noticing.  
John entered the room sometime later to find them both fast asleep. He got into bed and was surprised when Delenn didn’t wake up at the motions of the waterbed. He sidled closer to them and also slept.

 

********************************B5***************************

Breakfast the next morning was interesting. Jade was in-between excited and scared to go to school. Susan felt as if she were running late, and Marcus repeatedly tried to calm her and reassure her that they were early. John and Delenn were both amused by Susan’s frantic actions getting breakfast ready and helping Jade to dress. He’d been tolerant, but impatient with her attentions. John finally intervened on his son’s behalf and they got settled. Delenn figured that Susan and Jade would have to figure out their own routine after she and John left.  
Susan drove them to the school in her ground car. There was a school within walking distance of their home, but Susan had decided that this school was better for Jade. The other children were mostly the sons and daughters of other high Earth Force officials, and Marcus’s presence as bodyguard wouldn’t be an abnormal occurrence. John gazed out the window as Susan drove. The neighborhood they lived in was much like any suburban neighborhood that one would encounter anywhere on earth at anytime period in history. The only thing about this particular neighborhood was that it wasn’t suburban it was in the center of the capitol city of earth, no more than fifteen minutes from EarthDome itself. The school was a small, brick building near the elementary building. The closer they came to the school the more agitated Jade became. Finally the car stopped and they disembarked. John and Delenn each held one of Jade’s hands as Susan led the way to his classroom. The teacher was standing at the door waiting for arrivals.  
“Hello there.” She greeted in a cheery voice. “You have just got to be Jade. It’s nice to meet you.” She held out her hand as the group came near. John liked the way that she spoke to Jade first making him feel important. He could tell that was Jade’s reaction from his straightened shoulders. “Are these your parents?” She indicated John and Delenn as Jade hesitantly shook her hand.  
“Yes.” was the small reply. John broke in.  
“John Sheridan. This is my wife Delenn.” He indicated her with a gesture of one hand as he shook the teacher’s.  
“It’s nice to meet you. General Ivanova has told me of the situation with all of you, and I was a bit concerned that I wouldn’t get to meet Jade’s parents. I’m relieved to see that you are interested in his education.”  
“We are still getting used to the fact that Susan has put him in a public program, but agree that he should have the experience with his peers.”  
“I’m Mrs. Brockman. I’ll be his teacher for the time he is with us. I guess I’ll give you all a minute before I take him into class and introduce him to the other students. Oh, which one of you will be staying with him. I assume that with the nature of your profession, he will have a bodyguard with him.”  
“That would be me Madam. Marcus Cole.” He also shook her hand.  
“Nice to meet you. I’ll see you in class, in a minute, Jade.” He gave a small smile and a nod of his head, and she turned and went into the room.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn knelt in front of her son. “Have a wonderful day. We will see you when you get home for lunch.” He looked apprehensive to her as he nodded. “Don’t be afraid Marcus will be with you. Your teacher seems to be a nice lady. I love you my little one.”  
“Love you too, Mom.” He hugged her tightly, and she stepped back as Susan took her place.  
“I won’t see you at lunch, but I’ll be home this evening. Remember, if it doesn’t go so good today, you have to give it some time. I’m sure you’ll like it. Make some friends today, okay.”  
“I’ll try, Susochke. You have a good day too.” She hugged him, kissed his forehead, and stood back.  
John stepped forward as the others moved away. “Hey, don’t sweat it. I know for a fact that you are going to love it. You are going to be learning all kinds of things in here. It’s okay to be a little nervous, after all you’ve never done this before. I probably felt the same way, on my first day of school, as you are feeling right now. You’ll be fine though.” Jade nodded at his father and threw his arms around him.  
“Promise I’ll see you at lunch, Dad?”  
“Of course I promise. How could I miss having lunch and spending the rest of the day with my favorite fishin’ partner?” Jade grinned a toothy grin, and Marcus took his hand. John and the ladies stepped back even further as they turned and entered the classroom. Jade turned his head back and watched them as he was led by Marcus.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn looked like every mother on her baby’s first day of school. John remembered that look from his mother as he had trotted excitedly into his classroom after telling her that he could go alone. He slipped an arm around his wife and held her loosely. “We should get going, Hon. Susan’s going to be late.”  
“It’s okay, John. I know how she feels.” He looked at her around Delenn, and noticed that her expression was an exact match with the one on his wife’s face.   
“Come on you two. It’s not the end of existence, our son is in kindergarten. That’s all.” He chuckled at them. “Lets go already. You,” he indicated Susan, “need to get to work, and Delenn and I are going sight seeing for a little while. The car I requested should be meeting us any minute.” They exited the building, and Susan took off for work. John’s requested car arrived a few minutes later and he and Delenn went in search of a monument to explore.

********************************B5***************************

Jade entered the classroom with Marcus and Mrs. Brockman indicated that he should join her in the front of the class. Other children were sitting at their desks in rows in front of the teacher, who leaned against a much larger desk. Letting go of Marcus, who went to stand inconspicuously against the back wall near the door, Jade approached her. She walked him to an empty desk in the middle row. His was the third desk back. If he’d been less apprehensive and more observant he’d have seen that his desk was in the exact center of the classroom. “You can leave your book bag here by your desk, Jade. I want you to come back to the front with me though, so I can introduce you to your classmates.”  
He nodded once again. Shrugging out of the backpack he arranged it beside his desk. He then followed Mrs. Brockman back to the front of the class. Once she again stood in front of her desk she tried to take Jade’s shoulders and guide him to stand in front of her. He stiffened, though, as her hands moved toward him. She knelt in front of him, “Do you not like to be touched, Jade?” He shook his head in the negative. “Okay, I won’t touch you then. Relax, okay, everyone you see here is very nice. Now lets get you introduced so that we can start class.” She turned back to the class and called their attention. “Boys and girls we have a new student joining our class.” She indicated Jade. “This is Jade Sheridan. Lets make him feel at home.”  
“Hi Jade.” The class intoned.  
He waved his hand in greeting. “Would you like to tell the class a little about yourself?”  
“Like what?” He asked softly.  
“Well. Do you have any brothers or sisters?”  
“I have one brother, David. He’s older than me. He’s only been home for a month since his training. Mommy says he wants to be a Ranger when he is old enough to join.”  
A girl in the desk in front of his own raised her hand, and Mrs. Brockman called on her, “Yes Sarah, do you have a question?”  
She nodded and asked, “Where did you live before you came here?”  
“I live on Minbar, with my mommy and my dad, and David.” His voice was quiet and shy. “Mommy says that they lived there since before David was born. I think it’s a cool house.”  
“Jade’s mom and dad are very important people. His dad is the President of the Interstellar Alliance, and his mommy is the head of the Rangers that you sometimes see.”  
“Mrs. Brockman,” Jade’s voice was tentative and his eyes were on the floor.  
“Yes, what is it Jade?”  
“My mom is called Entil’zha, and the rangers are called Anla’Shok in Mommy’s language.”  
“Oh, thank you. She speaks Adronato doesn’t she?” He nodded again.   
“Yeah, she’s been teaching me, and one of her friends, he’s a captain of one of the cruisers. He taught me some of the commands he uses on his ship.”  
“Do you think you can give us a demonstration?”   
Jade nodded, “Um, Flak'sha. That means engines to full. Ahael means continuous fire, and Nis'idu ze'fan drok means set course for primary target.”  
“That’s wonderful. What about normal things?” “  
“Well, Nu’shan Tal means you’re welcome, and A’haran means may I? Nee means no and Vi‘is means yes.” He looked up at her not wanting to say more and feeling uncomfortable with all the class’s eyes on him.  
She smiled down at him. “Can you tell us what its like on Minbar?”  
“Well it’s just like being here, except that at home right now it’s in the middle of the night, and Daddy told me on the Whitestar that Earth only has seven days in a week. On Minbar we have nine days, and only three weeks in a month.”  
A boy in the desk to the left of Jade raised his hand. “Yes, Avery.”  
“My Mom said that Minbar is really cold in most places is that true. She also says that she knows the President.”  
“Well, Jade, is Minbar a cold planet?”  
“Not where I live. It’s nice in Tuzanor. That’s the capitol city. I like it there. The water in the streams and rivers are very cold though. My tutor, Tannier, told me that it was because the water in the rivers was runoff from the icy regions. I’ve been in the water, and I believe him.”  
“Okay. Why don’t you take your seat and we’ll get started.”  
“Mrs. Brockman,” spoke another little boy, who’s hand was also raised.  
“Yes?”  
“Why do they keep doing that?” Jade interrupted.  
“What?” asked Mrs. Brockman.  
“Raising their hands, why do they raise their hands?”  
“So that I will see they have a question and I can call on them without them interrupting the class.”  
“Oh, so should I do that if I have a question?”  
“Yes, it is standard procedure in a classroom with more than one student like you are used to. Now, ask your question Tommy.”  
“Who’s that guy?” He pointed at Marcus.  
“That is Jade’s bodyguard. He has to stay with him wherever he is to protect him.”  
“From what?”  
“Well, I told you that Jade’s Mommy and Daddy are very important.” She got nods. “They are in the public eye frequently and he needs a bodyguard to keep away people who would want to hurt him for being their child.”  
“Oh.” That was that, and Jade returned to his desk and sat. Mrs. Brockman began the lesson.

********************************B5***************************

 

Marcus watched Jade become enthusiastic as the morning wore on and his curiosity surfaced as he listened attentively to Mrs. Brockman. The boy’s face would light up as a new piece of information was dropped. The subjects each had an allotted time, and were changed when a bell rang. At first, Jade had trouble with the unexpected changes. He wasn’t used to having to drop all his questions on a particular subject, and would keep asking questions about one thing when they should have moved on. He also studied the other children, though he didn’t think that they were a threat. Aside from the normal schoolyard tiffs that is. In addition, he watched Mrs. Brockman closely. She had long blond hair and a soft smile was always ready for the children. Her voice was soft yet it projected across the room. Marcus was impressed with his wife’s decision of teachers for Jade. He knew that Susan had searched hard, for most of the four months Jade had been on Minbar, for just the right teacher. He was interrupted from his observation and thoughts by a louder bell. He then heard Mrs. Brockman tell the students that it was recess time. All the children, except Jade, tidied their desks and lined up at the door.  
“What’s wrong, Jade?” Mrs. Brockman asked when he didn’t move.  
“Nothing. What are they doing?”  
“It’s Recess.” She stated, blatantly surprised that he hadn’t jumped when the other children had, and even more surprised at his look of confusion.  
“What’s that mean?”  
“It’s time for a break. Recess is when you go outside and play for a bit.” Marcus said as he walked over to his Holdson and indicated the papers on his desk. “Lets clear this away and go outside.” He straightened the papers and stacked them in a corner of the desk.  
“But Tannier teaches me all morning. We don’t have any breaks. I wanna keep learning, Marcus.”  
“Things are done a little differently here in schools on Earth. Come on, lets go outside.”  
“I don’t want to, if we take a break now I’ll have lessons after lunch. I don’t want to have to do lessons after lunch. I always spend the afternoon with Mom. Besides Mom and Dad are going home tonight. I want to see them before they go.” His eyes were filling, and his voice was strained.  
Marcus was amused at his charge’s concern and misunderstanding. Then he noticed that the others were still lined up at the door and looking rather hostilely in their direction. “Why haven’t they gone out yet?”  
“All the children must go out at the same time. I’m afraid that Jade is holding things back, and the class is missing their recess.” Mrs. Brockman explained.  
“Oh. Well, go on ahead I’m with him, and I should really explain this before he becomes more upset. We’ll be fine I assure you.”  
“Sorry, the rules are clearly stated. All the children need a break from study and must go out to play.”  
“That’s a stupid rule. Oh well, come on Jade we’ll talk more outside.”  
“No, I wanna do my lessons first.” Marcus sighed, and reached down to lift Jade from the chair.   
“Just this once lets go outside. The other children are missing their playtime, and if you really want you can bring along a book and read it to me in Adronato. All right?”  
Jade nodded his head. Marcus set him on his feet and he grabbed a book from his bag and lined up. As he fell in step behind the other children Jade heard a couple of them giggling and looked up to see what was funny. He found that the children were looking at him, and returned his eyes to the floor.

********************************B5***************************

At that moment a Whitestar halfway across the galaxy released the modified cargo pods it was carrying. The pods limited navigation capabilities fired and the pods entered a meteorite storm in progress over a small continent on the night side of Centauri Prime. The Pods, unremarkable in description, the front ends covered with a substance that would simulate the burn up of a meteorite upon entry into an atmosphere. Within the six pods were thirty rangers, specifically trained for the task set before them. The ranger in command, Captain Montoya, who was known to Delenn to be a capable commander, gave the order for insertion. The pods moved into the atmosphere and began to drop like the meteorites around them.  
The entry was not smooth and the landing was worse. In order to maintain the illusion that they were meteorites the pods had to plow into the ground as a real meteorite would. In order to insure the ability of the rangers to disembark there were hatchways on both ends of the cylindrical pods. Montoya and his group of five exited and spread to create a perimeter while searching for the other pods at the same time. A second five appeared and took up position with Montoya’s group. Once all the rangers were assembled the rangers split into five groups and went over their orders once more. After they were all assured they understood their roles they began to apply the disguises that would help them to blend with the Centauri people. Montoya and his group moved toward the nearby town where they would catch a transport to the southern most continent of the planet. He’d thought he would be assigned the Palace so that he’d be near the Emperor, but his duties had called for his position to be, of all the groups, farthest from the palace. At first he’d been upset about the assignments. He knew the Emperor better than any of the others on the team. He would be able to spot any behavior that might indicate that he was under the control of a keeper. Then he realized that he hadn’t been assigned to the palace for that same reason because if he knew the Emperor well enough to spot any slightly irregular behavior, then the Emperor would be able to see him through the disguise he now supported. After he figured that out his annoyance faded and he admonished himself for his knee-jerk reaction to his assignment. Thinking that he should never question the motives behind Entil’zha’s placement of operatives. He sent the predetermined signal that would tell the others they were on planet.

********************************B5***************************

Jade sat with Marcus separate from the children playing a few feet away. Marcus was still trying to get the boy to go and play on the jungle gym with other toys. Explaining the concept of recess had gotten him nowhere, and he was giving up hope that Susan’s plan for Jade to interact with his peers was going to be successful. Jade read what Marcus had specified and was asking for another section to be assigned. “No, now you go and play for a bit. You need a break and so do I. If I promise I will not make you finish your lessons this afternoon will you go and play?”  
Jade nodded his head tentatively, as he looked over the playground watching the other children. Marcus found himself looking in the face of another obstacle. ‘I wonder if this is what it’s like to be a parent, or maybe just Jade’s parent?’ He thought to himself.  
“Just go on Jade, they’ll play with you if you get out there.” He said knowing that the hardest step for Jade was always the first, although they didn’t get much easier afterward. “Hurry up little chap. Recess won’t last much longer.” He was about to give up when one of the children ran up.   
“Hi. I’m Avery Gideon. My Mom’s in EarthForce too, so’s my dad, and I know how hard it is to make new friends. Come on, I’ll show you around.”  
Jade looked apprehensively at Marcus who nodded his encouragement. He then took a deep breath and followed the other boy at a trot. 

********************************B5***************************

Jade followed Avery over to a small group of children who sat talking and playing under the larger of the two tunnels on the jungle gym. Avery walked up with enthusiasm, “Hey guys what’re you playing?”  
“We’re not really doing anything much.” responded another of the boys.   
“What’s he doing here?” asked the girl, Sarah, from his class.  
Jade had stayed back when Avery’d gone to join his friends. Avery motioned him over. “I figured we could help him fit in. Maybe make his move a little easier you know?”  
“I don’t know. He was the reason we were late to recess.” The children eyed Jade dubiously.  
“You guys, he’s from a different kind of school. He didn’t know.” Avery took up for Jade.  
Jade was tired of it though, “It’s okay, Avery. I don’t wanna play anyway.” His voice had dropped to a whisper, and his eyes rested firmly on the ground.  
“How about we go and play somewhere else Jade. They are being mean.” Jade shook his head and turned to go back to Marcus. Avery grabbed his arm to stop him though.  
“Hey, don’t give up so easy. I want to be your friend. My mom says that we have to help others if we want to be successful people, and we have to stand up for what we believe. And I believe that you need a friend. So come on, we’ll go play on the merry-go-round.”  
“Your mom sounds a lot like my dad.”  
“Like I said she’s in EarthForce. An admiral.”  
“I think my dad used to be in that. Now he’s the president or something. My mom is in the government too, but she mostly does Anla’Shok things because she is the leader of the Anla’Shok.”  
“Cool. That's why you gotta have a bodyguard huh? There was a kid here last year that had to have one too.” Avery asked as the two of them took seats on the Merry-go-round.  
“Not really, I think that Susochke, my Hold-mother, is afraid that the Bester guy wants to take me away. So she makes Marcus follow me around. When they told me I had to have a bodyguard I thought that my one from home would be coming with me, but Susochke had already discussed things with my mom and dad and Marcus is with me instead.”  
“What’s it like to live on that planet? Is your family the only humans there?”  
“I like it on Minbar. At first I thought we might be the only ones, but there are a lot of Rangers who are human and they have their families with them. Some of them do. David knows the Rangers better than me. I’m scared of them mostly.”

********************************B5***************************

Marcus had moved nearer to the two boys to keep an eye on Jade, and had heard most of what was said. He stood there for the remainder of recess listening to the light conversation from these two little humans. He smiled as Jade lost some of his initial shyness. The bell rang and the children lined up once more. Avery and Jade stood together, and Marcus decided he’d have to give Susan a progress report that night after Jade had been put to bed. 

********************************B5***************************

The rest of the morning went basically smooth. Jade discovered that he was beginning to like the classroom, at least a little. He still wasn’t too sure how to react to most things and most of the time sat quietly waiting to be called upon instead of raising his hand trying to be first with an answer or question. Finally the morning ended and Jade repacked his things. He slung the backpack onto his back and took hold of Marcus’s offered hand. As they walked out, a tall man looking about fifty years of age, with light brown hair, and a strong build, entered the class. “Hey Jade?” Avery called out to him, then ran over.   
Jade turned around, “What?”  
“That’s my dad.” Avery said pointing to the man, who now stood talking to Mrs. Brockman. “I told you he was in EarthForce.” He stated indicating the uniform the man wore.  
“I believed you Avery.” Jade replied tentatively.  
“He’s really cool, wanna meet him?”  
“Can Marcus come with me? I don’t like strangers Avery.”  
“He’s not a stranger, he’s my dad.”  
“He’s a stranger to me; I don’t know him.”  
“Well, I guess you are right about that. I guess your bodyguard can come too.”  
“I’m more than his bodyguard Avery. I’m also Jade’s Hold-father. The lady he has been speaking of, Susochke, is my wife.”  
“Oh. In that case, why didn’t you just say so. Come on.” He grabbed Jade’s wrist and pulled him along. Jade looked back frightened to make sure that Marcus was coming too. When he saw that he was Jade allowed Avery to pull him up to the front of the room. Avery let go as they neared his father who had finished with his talk, and was now gathering his son’s things together. “Hi Dad,” Avery said walking up and hugging his father, “this is Jade he’s my friend. He’s new in school.”  
“Hi there.” Avery’s father said in a cheerful voice, as he lifted his son off the floor. “How was your first day?”  
Jade who was paralyzed with his eyes on the ground said nothing and Marcus answered. “It’s been a new experience for him. That’s for sure.” He held a hand out. “Marcus Cole. Jade’s hold-father.”  
“He’s Jade’s bodyguard too!” Avery chimed thinking the whole situation was too remarkable.   
Avery’s dad shook his hand somewhat reservedly. “Matthew Gideon. Uh, bodyguard?” The question was asked tentatively.  
“Yes. This is Jade Sheridan. If you think, I bet, you’ll figure out who his mum and dad are. People in high places and all that.” Gideon’s eyes widened as Marcus’s words sank in. “Anyway, it’s just a precaution while he’s on Earth. PsiCorps has expressed interest in him, and my wife and his parents and I want to deter any intent Bester might have to get to him. Really I’m here as a familiar face and moral support. He’s had a rough time of life the past few years and is subject to panic attacks. So I’m here to make sure someone he knows is with him when the next one hits.”  
“You say that as if you’re certain it will happen.”  
“Oh I’m certain all right. We nearly had an incident this morning, but your quick-thinking son intervened and averted disaster. I’ll have to owe him for it I guess.”  
“I’m sure he’ll find a way to collect. He usually does. Nice meeting you, by the way, we’ve been hearing that a new student was to arrive. I assume this won’t be a permanent arrangement though. From what I hear on the news his,” he gestured to Jade, “parents are both in good health.”  
“Yes they are in quite good health. He is living with my wife and me for the month then he’ll go back home, and then four Earth months later he’ll be back again.”  
“I get it, kinda like shared custody after a divorce.”  
“Not exactly but it’ll work. I’d love to stay and chat a while longer, but Jade’s Mum and Dad should be waiting outside for us, so we’d better head on.” He again shook hands with Gideon and then retook Jade’s hand and led him out of the building. As expected John and Delenn were waiting outside their car. Jade ran to his mother and she scooped him into her arms.  
“Did you have fun today, little one?” She asked softly resting her forehead against his.  
“Mmhmm, I got a friend today his name is Avery Gideon. His mom and dad are in EarthForce just like Susochke.”  
“It’s wonderful that you have a friend already, pal. Are we ready to go?” He nodded his head at John’s question. John lifted Jade from Delenn’s arms as she entered the car. Marcus climbed into the driver’s side and John set Jade inside then entered the vehicle himself. “Strap in Pal.” With that the car started and off they went.

********************************B5***************************

The car pulled up outside Susan and Marcus’s home and came to a stop. Marcus cut out the engine and then opened the front door. Jade went and put his backpack in his room. Delenn and John got started on lunch and firmly encouraged Marcus to sit and relax. Jade soon joined him in the living room and asked Marcus for a story about his adventures. Marcus obliged while they waited for lunch. When the food was ready, the story put on hold until later that night, and the table set the four sat and had an enjoyable conversation about what had happened at school that morning. Just after Jade had finished his meal Susan called to check on him and promised she’d be home early.   
That afternoon John helped Jade figure out the game system in his room. At first neither had understood it, but finally, after calling Mr. Garibaldi, they had it hooked into the wall monitor and tested it. The game worked like a charm. Marcus and Delenn joined them in the bedroom and the guys played the game while Delenn watched them. Ever so often Jade took a break from the game to snuggle in his mother’s lap. Delenn decided that this behavior suggested that while he was excited about being at Susan’s, he was mindful of the fact that he’d miss his home and parents. So, she held him when he wanted and left him alone when he didn’t. Then all too soon Susan arrived home, and it was time for John and Delenn to depart.

********************************B5***************************

The group stood beside the ramp of the Whitestar saying their good-byes. Jade was naturally subdued. He found that he was a little scared that his mom and dad were going to be gone. He watched as Susan hugged both of her friends goodbye and then she and Marcus stepped back from the three to give them a moment alone. John knelt to Jade’s eye level. “Hey, you be good for Susan and Marcus. Okay.”  
“Of course, Dad.”  
John smiled, he’d expected nothing less from his son’s reply. “I’m going to miss you Pal.” He swept Jade into a hug.   
“I know, me too. I’m gonna miss you and Mom and David too. You be very careful, okay.” He replied softly with a slight note of fear. John wondered at the tone, but said nothing.  
“We will. Don’t you worry. You’ll have so much fun you won’t even know we’re not here.”  
“Yes I will. But I’ll have fun anyways.”  
“Anyway, and I’d expect nothing less. We will call you,” he looked up at his wife’s teary eyes, “very often I think.” Jade had followed his gaze and smiled.   
“You better.” He hugged his dad again and walked over to his mom. She didn’t kneel. Instead she lifted him into her arms and held him tightly to her.  
“I already miss you, Little One. Have a good time with Susan and Marcus. Make some more friends and get to know Avery’s mother and father. I think that you will like them very much. Your dad and I know them well. Though we have been out of touch for quite some time.”  
Jade sniffled, and buried his face in her neck. “I already miss you too, Mommy. I hope I can be not scared of them. I like Avery. He’s nice.”   
“We had better get going, Delenn.” John said as he stood near.  
“Yes, we should or I think we will never get home.” Jade smiled at her attempt to lighten the situation, but tears escaped his eyes none the less.  
“I love you guys. Promise to call when you get home.”  
“Of course, we’ll call. Probably before, buddy.”  
“No, really promise Dad. I wanna know you got home. Okay?”  
John was taken aback at the urgency of the request, but was willing to oblige. “I promise whole-heartedly, son.” Jade took a deep breath and relaxed a bit as he nodded in satisfaction. John kissed his son’s forehead and smoothed his windblown hair out of his eyes. Delenn hugged Jade tightly, and he returned the favor.   
“Try not to dream, my little one. If you do dream only good things for me. Promise?”  
“I’ll try, but I can’t promise Mommy. I love you.”  
“We love you too, pal.”  
“Yes, very much.” She set him on his feet. “Now go and join Susan where it is safe. We must go.” She leaned down and kissed the top of his head one last time before shooing him on his way.  
He trotted off to where Susan and Marcus stood. Susan lifted him off the tarmac holding him close as they watched the Whitestar’s ramp close and the engines began to sing their song. Tears rolled freely down his face as he lifted his arm to wave goodbye as the ship lifted off and rotated to flash it’s landing lights toward them. “Please be careful in hyperspace.” He whispered as the ship shot into the sky.


	7. Chapter 7

********************************B5***************************

Susan finished loading the dishes into the washer and followed the sounds of laughter and frustration into Jade’s bedroom where her husband was getting his tail whipped by the laughing six year old in their custody. “Sounds like you two are having fun in here.”  
“Susochke, Marcus doesn’t know how to play this game. He keeps jumping off the land and falling in the holes. I beat him four times already.”  
“Why don’t you try a different game then.”  
“Okay. How about this one. It’s called Ga-la-ga. It’s called Galaga. It’s got spaceships that you try to destroy the alien bugs with. Dad and I played this afternoon. It’s a good one.”  
“Sounds like it’s worth a shot; put it in and lets give it a go. Susan plays the winner.”  
“Okay, but only one game. It’s almost nineteen hundred, that means bath time.”  
“Ohhh. Susochke, do I hafta.”  
“Yes, you do. You have school in the morning. Guess what, though.”  
“What?”  
“I’m going to pick you up tomorrow, unless something pressing comes up, but I doubt that will happen.”  
“Cool!”  
“What is it with you and that word?”  
“What, cool?” She nodded, “Well David said it one time and I liked it so I started to use it too. Dad says that his great-grandfather used to say it.”  
“Yeah that’s what he has said to me too. Speaking of grandparents, I thought that one weekend the three of us might go and visit yours.” Jade’s face lit up.  
“At the farm? Could we?”  
“I’ll call them tomorrow and find out if they have time for us.”  
“Of course they do. They’re Gramma and Grampa they always have time.”  
Susan laughed at his comment. “You think so, huh.” He nodded. “Well I’ll call anyway. We don’t want to drop in unannounced do we?”  
“I guess you’re right.”  
“Hey, Chap, are we going to play this or not?”  
“Lets play, silly.” Jade pushed the power button, and the intro of the game started. Susan sat back and watched them play and after another defeat Marcus relinquished the controller to her. Jade wasn’t so smug after that match as he marched off, in defeat, to take his bath.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn sat quietly on their bed going over the latest reports from Turval and Durhan. Silently, John slipped in behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle. “Jooohhnn, I am in the middle of reports here.”   
“Mmhmm.” He replied nuzzling her neck through her chestnut hair. “I’ve noticed. It’s also time for a break.” He paused to kiss the nape of her neck. “Don’t you think.”  
She feigned thinking about it, and said. “I believe you are right.”

********************************B5***************************

After a while she propped herself up beside him and looked in his drowsy hazel eyes. “You are determined to make up for the last four months aren’t you.”  
“Oh, abso-fraggin’-lutely.” He pulled her closer and kissed her lips softly.  
“You are insatiable.”  
“Only where you are concerned. I can never get enough of you.” She smiled shyly and kissed him more demandingly as passion flared again.

********************************B5***************************

Montoya looked around at the debris on the streets of the small town. The debris that had once been beautiful homes and bureaucratic buildings. He pulled the thick gloves more securely onto his hands and rejoined the group of Centauri attempting to clean up the aftermath of the lesson from their late Emperor’s Associates, the Drakh. ‘This has to be stopped quickly.’ He thought silently. ‘If it isn’t there won’t be anything left of Centauri Prime.’ He was pulled from his thoughts by a flashing light upon the debris in front of him. He watched for a minute to make sure that it was indeed a contact from one of the other rangers. Once he surmised that it was he deciphered the message and made his way to the edge of the group of Centauri until he found the one who had signaled.  
[How goes the investigation?]  
[Not good sir, we have a report that two of our operatives in the palace have gone missing. They are feared dead.]  
[Don’t fear for them. It is an honor for them. We have to hurry things though. If they have been taken then the Darkness may know the Light has come.]  
[Do you want me to start the next phase.]  
[Yes, tell the others to start moving against the Darkness openly. We must continue to earn the trust of the people though if we are to lead them in open rebellion.]  
The second ranger nodded and headed away.

********************************B5***************************

Jade sat with Avery on the playground, half-heartedly eating a snack Marcus had brought to them. He was worried about the boy. His nightmares, which had been conspicuously absent the first week, had returned with a vengeance two nights ago and had not let up even a little. Susan had taken to falling asleep in Jade’s room curled up in the chair beside his bed while watching over him. So far it hadn’t helped. Jade had begun to recoil from his food as well, eating only what Susan forced him too. They were due to call John and Delenn tonight, and Marcus wanted to talk to them about this turn of events. Jade’s teacher had noticed the change in his demeanor almost immediately. He had stopped asking questions and had withdrawn from all his friends except for Avery. Even Avery was worried about his friend.   
“You gotta start eating right Jade. My mom says that breakfast is the most important meal and that it helps you get through the day.” The boy sighed as Jade just munched unconcernedly on the snack. “Why don’t you wanna play? Everyone wants to get a ball game going, and you’re the best player here. They really want you to play with us.”  
“I don’t feel like it, Avery. I just,” he took a deep breath, “I don’t want to play anymore. I, I’m too scared.” He looked around nervously. “Something bad is gonna happen. I just know it. My mommy and daddy are gonna get hurt and so is everyone. I know it.”  
“How do you know it?” Avery asked with wide eyes. That was the most Jade had said since Monday.  
“I see it every night. It won’t go away. I try to make it go away like Daddy taught me but it won’t.” His voice was choked and he threw the second half of his snack over the fence into a waste bin.  
“You shouldn’t have done that. You should have eaten it.”  
“I’m not hungry. Food doesn’t taste good anyway.” Jade got up and walked away to sit in the shadow of one of the large playground toys that was not in use at the moment. He curled around himself and shivered as he thought of the dreams. Last night’s had been the worst. He had seen himself and David surrounded by dark figures on all sides and then David had been hurt. Jade thought he’d been shot, but couldn’t remember enough of that part of the dream. He did vividly remember the next part though. He’d seen rangers torn to pieces by the same dark figures that had surrounded David and himself. He remembered the room they’d been in. Its walls were covered with their blood and the pieces of their insides. He saw again the body parts strewn around the floor, a disembodied head with milky, dead eyes and a leg that was twisted at an odd angle that had no foot attached. He screamed again and again. It seemed to him that screaming was all he did anymore. Still, he screamed.

********************************B5***************************

 

David was nearby, being dragged by two more of the Dark Men. He could feel it. He didn’t look good. His face was a mass of bruises and dried blood. It looked like his nose had been broken too. The Dark Men dropped him into a room. Jade found that he remembered this room from a dream. Then Jade realized he was dreaming again and that in the dream David was alone, that he wasn’t with his brother as he had been in the other dreams. He fought against the images as always, to no avail. The scenes kept playing one by one until he saw David’s mutilated body, just like the rangers, and he could take no more and he screamed again.

********************************B5***************************

 

Marcus had carried Jade into the classroom when recess had ended. He’d watched the boy fall asleep in the shade of the climbing toy. He had debated a moment with the thought of waking the child, but surmised that he should be allowed to sleep and get what rest he could. Mrs. Brockman wanted to wake him but Marcus quickly pulled rank and advised that he be allowed to sleep. She then suggested that Marcus take him to the Nurse’s office to sleep, again Marcus disagreed, for the moment. He then told Jade’s teacher that he needed to use the little ranger’s room and asked that she take the necessary precautions they’d gone over. He placed Jade on a large beanbag cushion in the library area of the classroom. Mrs. Brockman agreed that was the best place for him until Marcus returned to take him to the Nurse’s station. Marcus went swiftly to take care of his business.  
On his way back to the classroom he saw two of the other teachers speaking quietly in the hall about halfway between him and the classroom door. He recognized them as first grade teachers and understood that their classes were out at recess. He was almost to them when he heard Jade’s shrill scream of, “DAVID!!!!” He broke into a run and about plowed over the two teachers, who were looking around startled by the scream. He would have apologized, but surmised that he didn’t have time as another scream sounded.  
He threw the door open to find Jade in his teacher’s arms fighting her grip for all he was worth. Avery stood near his friend, still in the throes of his nightmare. “David, nonoDad! nonoLEMMEGO! noMommynononono!!!!!” He struggled harder.  
“Give him here.” He said even as he pulled Jade into his arms. “Wake up, Jade.” He shook the boy. Jade didn’t even stir. “Come on, your mum’s not going to be happy with me, not to mention Susan. You have to wake up now.”  
“NO, DAVID.” Jade’s eyes opened, but Marcus could see that he was still amidst the vision that was scaring him so.  
Marcus shook him harder. “Avery, be a help and go get me a glass of water or something. I need to snap him out of this.” Avery nodded his head and bolted for the bathrooms. “Bugger, Jade you have to stop this. Your making yourself sick. Susan is going to kill me. You know she already left me for you don’t you little man. Not that I mind. If there were room for two in that chair I’d be there with her. I owe you my life remember. You’re the one that put me back in working order, but how can I return the favor if you won’t let me. Come on, wake up.”  
Avery returned with a dripping towel. “This was all I could find Sir.”   
“Should I get help?” Mrs. Brockman asked.  
“It’ll do. Good job, and thanks for the help, and no I can handle this. It happens all the time lately. He’ll wake soon enough.” Marcus squeezed the towel over Jade’s face. It didn’t appear to work at first, but suddenly with a final scream of, “DAVID!!” Jade woke up.  
“Hey it’s okay. You’re safe.” Marcus stood and walked out into the hall holding Jade close. Avery followed close behind despite the protests of the teacher, worried about his friend.  
“They got him!” Mrs. Brockman stood in the door watching until Marcus motioned her back. She nodded and went into the classroom to calm her students.  
“Him who? Got who? For that matter who got him?”  
“DAVID! They got him. They hurt him. I wasn’t there and they hurt him. Marcus he’s dead they killed him.”  
“WHOA! Jade, who got David?”  
“The Dark Men. The bad ones. Some of them are dumb and they don’t think, but the Dark Men they are smart. They hurt everyone. They killed him.”  
“What do you mean killed him, Jade, David is on Minbar. He’s safe at your home.”  
“No!!!” Jade’s voice became shrill, “They got him later. Not now. He was, Marcus, they ripped him in pieces. They tore him up like they did those rangers.”  
Marcus paled. “Have they already hurt the other rangers, Jade or is that later too?”  
“Not hurt, Marcus. Killed. They already did it, but no one knows yet, but I saw what was left. They haven’t been found. They’re missing. They’re Mommy’s rangers aren’t they?”  
“Most likely.” He looked around the two teachers he’d knocked into were watching them intently. “Why don’t we leave? We can go see Susan if you like.”  
“No, I want to stay. I don’t want her to worry anymore. Marcus why won’t the dreams stop. Mommy said to dream only good things for her.” His small arms went around Marcus’s neck and he buried his face in Marcus’s shoulder. His sobs were cleansing his psyche of the visions he’d just witnessed. Marcus understood this and soothed Jade’s back as he cried. Avery stood close and, even though he didn’t understand what was going on, he did his best to let Jade know that he was there to help.  
“Are you sure you want to stay Jade. It sounds like you had a really scary dream. Maybe you should go see your Susochke.” He said to his friend.  
“N, no. I want to sstay here and finish today. It’s not much longer.” He was beginning to breathe hard from crying.   
“Why don’t we take you to get checked out by the nurse.” Marcus suggested. Jade stood immediately trying to calm down.  
“No, I’m okay. I just want to go back inside.” Jade pleaded as he took a deep breath with no trouble.   
Marcus, having gotten used to such situations and knowing that Jade’s actions now meant it was finished, decided to respect his wishes. “All right, but if you feel like you want to leave, we can.”  
“I’ll let you know, but I really want to stay.”  
“We can stay on one condition.”  
“What?  
“When we get home later you try to eat everything on your plate for lunch and again at supper.”  
“Deal, Marcus, but what if I’m not hungry.”  
“All I ask is you try to eat, Jade. I won’t force you, but if you don’t we are going to Franklin tomorrow. Go get in your desk, and pay attention to your teacher.” Marcus followed the boys’ progress back to their desks. Avery hadn’t left Jade’s side yet, and took his arm. He opened the door and walked his friend in. Avery saw that Jade was seated at his desk and then returned to his own. The other students asked Jade if he was okay. He assured them that he’d just had a bad dream and been upset. The children understood bad dreams and were placated by this.  
Mrs. Brockman, however, looked at Jade absolutely stunned by what had happened. She’d known that he was a telepath, but this was something she’d never seen before. Marcus noticed and cleared his throat. She looked up at him and he nodded at her. She took a breath and nodded back. Then she began the lessons where she’d left off.

********************************B5***************************

The lessons ended and the class cleaned up the room and waited calmly, at their desks, for their parents to come and pick them up. Some sat playing quietly with toys they’d brought from home others used the classroom books borrowed from the school library. Jade asked Marcus if they could stay until Avery got picked up. Marcus acquiesced, and so they sat and waited with the other boy. The two talked quietly among themselves. Until Avery looked up at Marcus. “Do you think that if my dad says it’s okay Jade could come to my house after school today for a while to play?” Asked Avery, putting all the cuteness he could in his big blue eyes.  
“Well, I don’t know. Jade hasn’t exactly been feeling well.”  
“Please. We don’t know if my dad will let him, but I really want him to come and play.”  
“We’ll see. It depends on your father’s answer, and if Jade wants to.”   
“Okay.” Avery went back to his conversation with Jade. To Marcus, Jade didn’t look like he would object to it. Since waking up he’d been much more like his regular self even asking a few questions when he was curious about something they were learning. He decided that if Matthew said it was okay then he’d allow it as long as Jade promised to eat all his lunch there.  
They waited for about ten more minutes before Avery was picked up. They were surprised though because it was his mother and not his dad who picked him up.  
“Mom? Where is Dad? I thought he was getting me today.”  
Elizabeth Lochley, former captain of Babylon 5, lifted her son off the floor, “Well, dad had something come up and he called me and told me that he wouldn’t be able to pick you up today. So, I took the afternoon off to come pick you up and spend time at home with you.”  
“Oh. Do you think it would be okay if Jade came over to play for a while?”  
“I don’t know. Do you have any homework?”  
“Mom, I’m in kindergarten. I don’t get homework.”  
“Oh, that's right. I thought you were in high school.” Avery laughed at her joke.  
“You’re silly Mom.” Jade found himself smiling. He had not met Avery’s mother before but he thought that he liked her already. He hadn’t met her but he’d seen her picture when he’d looked through the family albums at home and at his grandparent’s home.  
Lochley looked around the room. “So which of these other munchkins is Jade?”  
“I am, Ma’am.” Jade let go of Marcus’s hand and stepped closer. “Avery is my friend.”  
“Oh, really. I’m glad you guys are friends. I wouldn’t want to have to break up any fights at the house, now would I.” Jade smiled slightly and shook his head. “Well who do we contact to see if it’s okay for you to come and play.”  
“That would be me Admiral.” Marcus stepped forward. Lochley’s eyes widened when she saw the Ranger cloak he wore.  
“You’re a ranger?”  
“Yes, and Jade’s Hold-father among other things. The name is Marcus Cole.”  
“Marcus Cole. I thought you were in Cryogenics.” Marcus smiled at her lack of diplomacy due to shock. Apparently she had heard of him.  
“I was until about five months ago. Jade revived me.”  
Lochley’s eyebrows rose in disbelief. “Jade who, exactly?”  
“Sheridan, Ma’am.” Jade looked up at her.  
“You are the little boy that John and Ambassador Delenn adopted then.” Jade nodded his head. “Well it’s nice to meet you. I have known your dad for a long, long time.”  
“Really? Longer than David has even?”  
“Oh, much longer. He and I went to the EarthForce academy together.”  
“So you’ve known him longer even than my mommy.” Jade said in nervous awe.  
“Yes. Longer even than Delenn.” She smiled down at him.  
“Wow, that’s a long time.”  
“Yes it, definitely is, a very long time. So, do you want to come over or what?”  
“Sure. Can I Marcus? Please. Avery wants me to.”  
“Well, I don’t know. We’ll have to call Susan and fill her in and then there’s the little problem of your lunch. I have to make sure you eat, remember.”  
“PLEASE!!!!!!! I’ll eat everything I promise.”  
“I suppose it would be okay then. I’ll call Susan and tell her to pick you up on her way home. I will need the address though. She may have a telepathic bond, with Jade but that doesn’t really help when she doesn’t know how to get to him.”  
“Of course, why don’t you walk with us out to my groundcar and help me load these two. I’ll get it for you out there.”  
“Sure there are a few things that I need to warn you of anyway.”  
“Like what.”  
“Don’t let him go to sleep while he’s at your house, no matter how tired he is. You really don’t want to deal with his panic attacks alone. He’s been having terrible nightmares and I doubt you could handle him. Now don’t look at me like that until I finish. He isn’t used to strangers. He seems to like you, but if he has a panic attack I think he would reject your comfort. He was abused before the President and Entil'zha adopted him so there are very few people that he trusts. Plus the nightmares are premonitions. He’s telepathic. I should warn you that he scares easily as well. I’d come, but I think it would be better if I let him try this on his own first.”  
“Avery, not too far ahead.” She broke in as Avery and Jade got too far for her peace of mind. “Sorry, please continue.”  
“If you have trouble then call me or my wife, Susan Ivanova. I’ll give you the numbers as soon as I get my hands on a pen. I don’t foresee any problems though. I’ll be nearby for a while. Avery seems to have a calming influence over Jade. He is less jumpy when they play together. I have noticed that the few times Avery and Matthew have stopped by.”  
“Really. The way he runs around at home I wouldn’t think he could calm anyone. Thanks for the information. There’s nothing like a good challenge.” She said as they caught up to the boys, who stood waiting for them on the sidewalk by the parking lot. They each took a hand of one of the boys and Marcus followed her to the ground car. She opened the doors and Avery and Jade piled in. “Here is the address, and my number if you need to reach me for anything.”  
“Right.” He borrowed her pen and wrote down both the home number and Susan’s office. “If you do have a problem with him call Susan. She’ll want to know what’s going on. I won’t give her your number, or she’ll drive you crazy calling to make sure he’s okay. I’ll let her know where he is though and she’ll most likely be the one to collect him later.” Marcus leaned into the car and looked pointedly at Jade. “You behave yourself.”  
“Don’t I always.”  
“Yes, you do. I still have to say it. I won’t be far away, remember I’m still your bodyguard.”  
“Okay.” Jade leaned forward and hugged him. “I’m really all right, now. Nothing bad is going to happen.” He sounded sure of himself and Marcus believed him.  
Marcus returned the hug and straightened. “Susan gets off around seventeen hundred. If that’s too late then call me and I’ll come get him. Also, make sure he eats his lunch. He has lost his appetite recently and I want him to make up for it before he gets ill.”  
“That’s easy enough to remember. Any allergies to Earth food, I should know about?”  
“No, he’s not allergic to anything he’s eaten so far. He lived on Earth for three years before he was taken. Just treat him like a normal kid for the most part. Susan tends to cater to him more than is necessary. I think she just enjoys it. Anyway, I’ll check in every so often. Its my job, you know.”  
“Right, well, he’ll see you after seventeen hundred, and Avery and I’ll see you when we next see you. Try and relax, I’ll take good care of John and Delenn’s baby.”  
“Sure, an afternoon off sounds grand.”  
Lochley chuckled with him and then got in the car. “You two strap in back there.” She said as she strapped herself in. Marcus watched as the car pulled away. He then turned and went to his own car and headed for home.

********************************B5***************************

Elizabeth opened her door and stepped out of the way as Avery pushed past. Jade hung back and allowed her to enter first. “You are a quiet guy. I don’t think I heard you talk more than a couple times in the car. You don’t have to be afraid, you know. I don’t bite.” Jade nodded his head smiling at her joke.  
“I’m sorry, its just hard to get used to people. I’m still not entirely comfortable with Aunt Lizzie and her family. Dad says that its okay, though, that I’m a little scared. He says that with everything that happened it is expected.”  
“I see. You should listen to him. Your dad is a pretty smart guy.”  
“Did you really know my dad a long time ago?”  
“Yes I did. We were very good friends. We still are.”  
“Cool. I like it that my dad is friends with my friend’s mom and dad.”  
“You sound like John when you say that. Tell you what, why don’t you two go play and I’ll make us some lunch.” She watched the two boys scamper off to her son’s bedroom. She noticed, as she watched Jade, that he had the mannerisms she remembered seeing both John and Delenn use. ‘I guess genetics really aren’t everything. He’s lived with them for less than half a year and he has already picked up on their body language. Oh, boy! I’ll bet he’s gotten John’s stubborn streak too.’ She thought as she moved into the kitchen.

********************************B5***************************

“WHAT!?” Her voice was filled with exasperation and something that Marcus wasn’t going to say was worry. She would never admit it. “What in the world possessed you to allow him to go off to some stranger’s home?”  
“First of all it is not a stranger’s home. Its Avery’s home. I have met both of his parents and they are very responsible people. Admiral Lochley assured me that she can handle just about anything Jade can come up with. So calm down, Suz.”  
He watched her relax. He’d known the pet name would calm her. “You don’t fight fair. Okay, you win. What time am I picking him up?”  
“I told the Admiral that you get off at seventeen hundred, and she should expect you shortly after.”  
“Marcus, normally I do get off at seventeen hundred, but a little while ago I got a strange feeling and I canceled most of my afternoon appointments. I’ll be out of here no later than fourteen hundred.”  
“Well we’ll think of something to occupy our time. It is three whole hours.”  
“See you later then.”  
“Wouldn’t miss it.”

********************************B5***************************

The afternoon passed by all too soon, for all concerned. Susan came home a little after thirteen hundred and made up for all the nights she and Marcus had spent apart. Jade and Avery played in Avery’s room and for the first time since they’d met, Jade didn’t have any inhibitions because of others around them. He was the same little boy that John and Delenn knew from home. He even began to relax around Elizabeth, and when Susan arrived to pick him up he and Avery were listening to her tell of the time she spent on Babylon 5. When the door chimed, Jade announced that Susan had arrived before Lochley had even risen from her chair. She seemed a bit unsettled with the casual announcement, but said nothing and went to answer the door. Susan followed her back into the living room and Jade came to her.  
“Hi, have you had fun this afternoon?”  
“Yep I got to play with Avery’s toys and we built a fort and I ate all my lunch and his mom was tellin’ us about when she served under Dad on Babylon 5, and...”  
“Sounds like you enjoyed yourself.” She interrupted knowing that if she didn’t she’d never get to talk. “Thanks for having him over. He needs to get out more.”  
“I’m glad to have him. He’s a good boy. Avery why don’t you go help Jade gather his things.”  
“Okay. Come on Jade.” The two boys headed for Avery’s room again.  
“He is very quiet. I was worried for a little while.”  
“Jade is just shy around new people. With all that he has been through, its not surprising.”  
“What exactly has happened to him? I’ve seen a little about him on ISN, but it wasn’t much.”  
“No John didn’t want a lot of press on him. He was enough of a mess without a bunch of cameras and microphones in his face. He was a ‘guest’ of the remainder of Nightwatch. For three years the only strangers he encountered hurt him in someway or another. So we take everything slowly with him. You said he ate all his lunch?”  
“Yeah, Mr. Cole asked me to make sure that he did.”  
“I’m glad. He hasn’t been eating much since the dreams started.”  
“What dreams?”  
“He has chronic nightmares of his experiences and other things.”  
“Is he telepathic?”  
Susan’s shocked expression answered for her. “Yes, how did you know?”  
“He announced you were here before I had even gotten up to answer the door. I thought it might be coincident, but I remember Matthew saying PsiCorp had an interest in him.”  
“Yes, they do. That’s one of the most important reasons that Marcus stays with him at school. Can I ask a candid question?”  
“I don’t see why not.”  
“With all respect, aren’t the two of you a little old to have a six year old.” Susan asked with as much courtesy as she could.  
“Actually, yeah, but Mathew and I didn’t get married until it was too late for me to have kids, and we both wanted them. So, we adopted Avery right after he was born. He wasn’t more than a few hours old when we got him.”  
Susan nodded thinking, “How hard was it to adopt him? Marcus and I obviously won’t be having children the old fashioned way. Adoption might be a solution to look into.”  
“The normal run-around. Adoption hasn’t changed much for centuries.”  
“Thanks, I’ll talk to Marcus about it. We may even, eventually, do something about it.” The two boys came running back into the room, and Susan cut off the conversation. “Slow down Jade. We--”  
“Walk in the house. Sorry, Susochke.” He finished for her.  
“No problem. Got all your stuff?”  
“Yep. I’m ready when you are I guess? Hey, do you think that Avery could come over some time. I’ve seen his room. Now I want to show him mine.”  
“We’ll see. We’re not going to be here this weekend remember.”  
Jade’s face lit up like a candle. “Oh yeah, we’re gonna go see Grampa and Gramma.”  
“Right.” She turned to Lochley again. “It was nice to meet you, and thank you for having him over.”  
“We enjoyed it. Hope he can come again soon.” She walked them out with Avery trailing behind.  
“See you at school tomorrow Jade.”  
“ ‘Kay. Bye. Thank you for letting me come and play.”  
Susan got him settled in the front seat, and climbed in herself. Then they headed home.


	8. Chapter 8

********************************B5***************************

Delenn rose from her seat nestled in her husband’s embrace to answer the com. “Yes.”  
“Entil'zha. We have received another message. They found the missing Rangers. It was as we feared. We don’t know how they were discovered, but they were. Should we move forward or withdraw?”  
“We can not stop now. Go on to the next phase.”  
“Yes Entil'zha.” Durhan signed off with a bow.  
Delenn returned to John’s waiting arms. He knew she was going to be upset about the news. “Things are moving much too rapidly John. Our time frame is fully a week ahead of projected schedule.”  
“I know, Delenn, but maybe its best that we finish this quickly. If things keep going the way they are, Jade’s time with Susan will be interrupted, but after its done we’ll make it up to him. To both of them.”  
“I hate this, John.”  
John tightened his arms around her. “I know, and I don’t like it any more than you do. But its got to be done. We can’t just ignore that the darkness we fought still lives in others, and we can’t allow them to go on oppressing the Centauri.”  
“You are right, of course, but I still don’t like it.”  
“I know. Tell you what, why don’t we make a call to Susan and talk to our boy for a little while.”  
She smiled softly. “Good idea. You make the call I will go see if David wants to talk to him.”  
“Okay, why don’t you wait for a bit and let me fill Susan in on the latest.” At her nod he turned and made the call to Susan.

********************************B5***************************

Jade was in the middle of his evening bath when the interstellar com announced that a call was coming in for Susan. Marcus informed her and she left her spot beside the tub, where she was washing Jade’s hair, to answer it.  
“I’ll be right back Jade. Don’t you dare dunk yourself. I’m not finished.”  
Jade sighed in exasperation. He’d told her more than a dozen times that he could wash his own hair, but she insisted on washing it for him.  
Susan grabbed a towel and headed into the living room. “Receive.” She called, and John’s face appeared on screen. “Hi, let me get Jade.”  
“Wait Susan! I need to talk to you privately for a moment before you get him.”  
“Okay. Hang on one second then.” She turned to Marcus who was walking out of the hallway. “Could you help Jade finish washing his hair. John needs to talk to me for a bit. I’ll come get him when we’re done.”  
Marcus nodded and she turned back to the screen. “Okay. Its just me now.”  
“Right, we got the latest report on the CleanSweep Operation. They found the missing rangers. It’s not pretty. Delenn gave the order to move ahead. The problem with that is if everything stays on schedule, I’ll be bringing David to my parents place next week. That’s going to cut into your time with Jade. I want them to be together while Delenn and I are commanding the fleet.”  
“I understand John. Don’t worry. If I have to I’ll go and stay with them until I get the call to join you. We’re going to see your parents this weekend. Do you want me to notify them? Kinda get them ready for what is coming.”  
“No I’ll call them later. Since Liz and Danny moved back to Earth I don’t have to worry about them.”  
“Okay, are we going to get some kind of warning when to expect you?”  
“Probably not. We don’t know exactly when everything will come to a head. It might be on schedule, it might not. We’ll just have to wait and see.”  
“Right. I understand better than I’d like how that goes. Is that all?”  
“Yeah for now. Where’s Jade?”  
“He should be getting out of the tub by now.” At that moment she heard the drain kick in and Jade came running into the room in his pajama bottoms with his hair dripping. Marcus followed with a towel, and once he’d caught up he draped it around the boy’s shoulders to catch the drips.  
“Hi Dad! I miss you.”  
“Hey, me too. So do your mom and David. They’ll be here in a minute. How have you been?”  
“Well, all last week I didn’t have any bad dreams, but they started again this week. They’re getting worse, Daddy.” His voice had become small.  
John was glad that Jade had gotten right to it, though, instead of holding it in. “Sorry you are having nightmares again, Pal. Just remember that Susan and Marcus are there and they won’t let anything happen to you.”  
“I know.” Delenn stepped into view of the screen and Jade greeted her enthusiastically. “Hi Mommy! How are you doing?”  
“I am well, my little one. I see that you are not sleeping again.”  
Jade’s eyes fell. “Yeah, the nightmares started again two days ago. I fell asleep in school today and I had another one. It was the worst yet. But I don’t wanna talk about that now.”  
“All right. Have you made any new friends?”  
“MmmHmm. Some I started playing baseball with some of the others at recess. Now everyone wants me on their team. They fight over who gets to pick me.”  
“That is good. How is the boy that you met when we were there?”   
“Avery. He’s good. I played at his house this afternoon. I was all by myself there and I wasn’t scared. His mom is nice. She made us some peanut butter and honey sandwiches for lunch, with a glass of milk to drink. She says that milk helps make you strong.”  
“She’s right, Pal. Susan tells me you’re going to see your grandparents this weekend.”  
“Yeah. I can’t wait.”  
“Well tell them Hi for me and give them both a big, big hug, okay.”  
“Sure Dad. You know what, Avery’s mom tells funny stories. She told us about when she was on Babylon Five and working with you. She says that she knew you before mommy did. Is that true?”  
“Oh yes, very true. Do you like Avery’s mom?”  
“I guess so. I don’t know her that well. I just met her today, and I spent most of the time playing in Avery’s room.”  
“Oh, well, we better let you get back to what you were doing. You, young man, are still dripping wet, and need to get the rest of your clothes on. Sleep good tonight, okay.”  
“I’ll try, sir.”  
“That’s all I ask. Here, say goodnight to your mom.”  
Delenn moved up again while John went to the background. “Have only good dreams tonight, my little one. Valen protect your sleep.”  
Jade smiled, “Thank you, Mom. I’m sure he will. Protect me, I mean. You sleep good too. And don’t miss me too much.”  
“I’ll try not to.” John moved forward again and touched Jade’s image. His index finger drew a line from between Jade’s eyebrows, straight down to the tip of his nose. Jade recognized the gesture and could almost feel the line being traced on screen. His father often did that when he was worried about something.  
“Remember what I said, Susan. Watch out for our little boy.”  
“Count on it. You two watch yourselves.” She answered the screen went blank. “Come on, Dushenka, let’s get you dried off and ready for bed.” She bent and lifted him off the floor and carried him into his room. She placed him on the bed and took the towel from his shoulders as she sat behind him and began drying his hair. “Why didn’t you tell me about your dream at school? For that matter why didn’t Marcus tell me?”  
“I didn’t want you to be upset again Susochke. I told Marcus not to tell you. You have been sleeping in here with me and you should be in there with him. If we had told you, you would have made me come home early and I really did want to go and play with Avery. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”  
“Its okay, Dushenka. I kinda thought something like that might have happened. I got a little jumpy this morning. I just felt like there might be something wrong. So I had all my afternoon appointments rescheduled for another day, and then Marcus calls me and says you are spending the afternoon with Avery.”  
“I wish I would have known. I would have liked it if we spent the afternoon together. I haven’t seen you that much. Susochke,”  
“What is it, Dushenka?”  
“Do you think you could rock me tonight at bedtime? Like you did when I stayed with you. And can you sing me that song that you always sang?”  
“I think that can be arranged. Are you sure you’re not too big to be rocked and sang to?” She teased him.  
He nodded his head, and she slipped a shirt over it. “I like to be rocked. I like to feel safe that way.”  
“I know you do.” She said in a softer voice. “I was just teasing.”  
“I know. But I want you to know that I feel safe here. I am not having bad dreams because I don’t feel safe. I do feel safe. But I don’t know why I am having the dreams.”  
“Do you want to tell me about the one you had this morning?”  
“You promise that you won’t get weird on me if I tell you?”  
“I promise.”  
“I dreamed that the Dark Men killed David just like they killed the rangers Mom sent to find them.”  
“How do you know about the mission?”  
“I don’t know about any mission. I just dreamed about the rangers. It scared me very much, Susochke.” She turned him to face her and hugged him close.  
“I know, sweetling. If you want, I can stay with you. I’ll sleep in here with you.”  
Jade shook his head. “No Susochke. You should sleep in there with Marcus.”  
“But if you need me more than Marcus I should be here.”  
“Well, you stay in there, and I’ll let you know when I need you. I’ll even be quiet about it.”  
“Well, just let me know anyway you can. Lets go find that rocking chair and I’ll help you go to sleep.”

********************************B5***************************

Forty-five minutes later Susan re-entered Jade’s room cradling his sleeping form in her arms. She rolled down the covers and laid him in the bed. She pulled the covers up to his chin and kissed his forehead. “Sleep good, Sweet Dushenka.” She walked to the adjoining door to her and Marcus’s room and locked it open, calling for lights out. She walked into the room and got herself ready for bed. Marcus was already lying down on his side of the bed. She crawled in with him and curled into his arms and drifted into oblivion.   
The next thing she knew it was oh four hundred and Jade was crawling into the bed on her side. “Another?”  
“Yes.” Came the whispered reply. “Can I stay with you the rest of the night?”  
“Of course, Dushenka.” She sidled over to make room for him, and helped him climb the rest of the way into her and Marcus’s bed. She pulled him closer and drifted back to sleep, as she felt his small arms tighten around her waist and his small head bury into her stomach.

********************************B5***************************

Across the galaxy on Centauri Prime, Montoya received the orders to move ahead to the next phase of their plans. He then sent a message to all rangers in his group. They would confirm orders by a predetermined time, and hope that those who’d gone before would not have been able to give the information on their transmission frequencies before meeting their end. He sat back, as the signal went out, and looked up at the Centauri dawn. It was just as beautiful as any other dawn he’d seen over the span of his lifetime. All too soon his sense of danger got the better of him and he packed up his transmitter/receiver equipment. He headed to his next stationary setup point to await confirmation of the orders.  
He reached his new staging area four hours later, and unpacked the equipment. He checked for the confirmations he hoped would be waiting for him. He sighed in relief when all confirmations appeared in the memory. All rangers on his team still accounted for. That was more than he could say for some of the other teams, especially the team stationed around the Royal Palace.

********************************B5***************************

Ranger Edson calmed the group of Centauri that had gathered to listen, at the risk of their lives, to his plans for an uprising against the oppression upon them. Some in the crowd thought that just being there was suicide. He quelled the fear and the aggression that the fear caused in some. “We have to put aside our differences, friends. Allow those who think differently from ourselves to keep their opinions. For if we are bickering among ourselves, we can not rise against the tyrants controlling and destroying our world.” The crowd made an unintelligible affirmative sound. He still saw some that were nervous and negative. “I realize that you feel afraid for your lives and your family’s lives, but we and they die anyway on a daily basis. Why not make their deaths have a meaning? If they die fighting the Dark Ones their lives and their deaths have meaning. They die so that others may live free. I now know why the Narns fought us so boldly in the wars of the past even though they knew that they could not win. The oppression was unendurable.” The crowd broke apart and the members of his group went in search of the dark ones that inhabited their island. The first group they found was a military contingent half drunk from their leave. The rioters had torn them to shreds in moments.  
The same scenes were loosed all over the surface of Centauri Prime. Riots in the streets; men, women, and children alike taking up arms against the Dark Servants that inhabited their planet. When one of the Centauri number was killed they took four of the Drakh. Sadly, most of the Drakh killed were mindless soldiers. Only a hand full of the truly intelligent councilors were dispatched in this first wave of riots. The leader of the Drakh on Centauri Prime lost a close friend during the riots, and knew they were caused by the outside influence of the rangers. He’d already ordered and carried out the deaths of two of their order as a warning. He sat deep in the secret tunnels below the bowels of the Royal Palace. As he watched the unspeakable things done to his subjects and his friends he made a decision to send more than a message. He’d send a death certificate for all the Ranger influence upon his planet. And so it was that the entire group of the Palace rangers were found in various pieces. When they were found half of the body parts had already started to decay. The young woman that found them, for a wonder, barely gagged and sent a message to the seeming leader of the groups in surrounding the Palace area.

********************************B5***************************

It was fully a week later that the images the mysterious woman had sent reached Montoya. He blanched at the sight of the corpses. Others who’d gathered to him after their parts in the riots were concluded, turned and retched at the sight of comrades and friends and possibly even lovers mixed together like a brutal, bloody, body part Picasso. Montoya sent them out to find the gathering places that the Drakh would likely fall back to.   
Over the next week, he got solid, not so solid and ridiculous reports on the strongholds the Drakh were likely to use. He also got report after report of Rangers either missing or dead. He sent the last message he felt he was likely to send back to Minbar and destroyed all his remaining communications equipment. The only thing left to him was his link between the other rangers.

********************************B5***************************

Susan awoke to the sound of the com. Jade was asleep between herself and Marcus and she didn’t want to disturb him. She had been relieved when the week had come and gone without John showing up to take Jade to Minnesota. Now she was waiting for and dreading the day that he and Delenn came to take her Dushenka home to Minbar. She sighed and kissed his small forehead before getting up and going into the living room to answer the com. As she passed she looked at the time. ‘Oh Five-thirty. I hope this isn’t work. I really want to go to school with Jade today.’  
“Receive.” She bade the computer as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The screen went from the familiar StellarCom logo to the face of a haggard looking John Sheridan. “John, what's going on?”  
“It’s started, Susan. The Drakh on Centauri Prime are moving. They’re being driven actually, and there is only one more phase to complete before they are driven all the way off the planet. Then the fun really begins. That’s not really why I’m calling. Although, its the reason for the reason I’m calling. Delenn and I have decided that we’re going to leave Jade with you until one or the other of us brings David to Earth. It would be pointless to spend six days in hyperspace to come get him only to have to turn right around when we get back here and take him to my Dad’s place.”  
“That’s no problem John.” Her earlier musings forgotten as she listened to him, and she found herself feeling a little guilty for being so selfish as to assume the biggest problem she had was how much she would miss Jade. “We’ll continue to take good care of him. You concentrate on the battles and taking care of David and Delenn. We both know what war, no matter how necessary, does to her psyche.”  
“Thank you, Susan. I really appreciate this. I have to go. We’ve lost contact with our rangers on Centauri Prime and are running around crazy trying to find information on them. Give Jade a hug and kiss from me and his mom. Talk to you later.” With that the screen went blank. Susan went back into the bedroom where her husband and her Dushenka slept. She lie down beside Jade once again, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t sleep. So she rolled to face her hold-son’s fitful slumber. She was proud of the little one. His dreams had become progressively worse over the last two weeks, but no matter how much his sleep plagued him he was always ready for school and he continued to eat like he should. He hadn’t lost his appetite again since going to Avery’s house that first afternoon. She watched as his movements became frantic. She sighed in defeat. Even when in the bed with her and Marcus his sleep was restless and troubled. She had taken to putting him into her bed after she’d rocked him to sleep. It had helped at first, but as the days wore on it seemed to work less and less. She could only watch and hope that he would get the rest he needed between nightmares.

********************************B5***************************

Montoya and three others that he’d been able to contact were on the run. The Drakh superiors had eyes everywhere on the planet and they dare not venture out during the night. The darkness was filled with the enemy. It hid them, harbored them. They had no cover during the daylight hours. His companions followed him blindly, both having been wounded. Del Vientos was on makeshift crutches and Edson, whom he himself had trained, had a broken arm and collarbone, not to mention the ribs and the nose. Both kept silent. There were no words to describe the despair they all felt. He pushed on being careful, mindful of the watchful eyes all around them, for just because they had no cover didn’t mean they weren’t there. They had left the small area he’d used as a staging area in search of the newest fallback position of the Drakh. His mission was to destroy it. To destroy all the safe houses of the Dark. He was so intent upon his trek that the hand that pulled him and his companions into the alleyway startled him momentarily into inaction.  
He was angry with himself for allowing his focus to obscure his awareness, and he lashed out at the hand, a moment later, bending it back until its owner was on the ground in submission.  
“I just saved your butts, Ranger. Is this anyway to treat your protector?” The voice was filled with venom.  
“Who are you? We didn’t ask for your interference.”  
“I am the one who’s been helping you from the start. At great risk to myself and others that I am working with, I might add.” He let her rise, but didn’t let go of her hand. She was draped in robes, a deep hood covering her face, hiding her identity.  
“Who are you?”  
“I told you. If you’re looking for a name you’ll be sorely disappointed. I no longer have a name. I lost it months ago.”  
“Why are you helping us?”  
“Shhh!” She wrenched her hand away, and moved to the opening of the alley. He watched silently as she peered in the direction he and his companions had come from. Abruptly she was ushering them back farther into the shadows. She pushed them into a hidden alcove farther along the walls. Montoya was about to ask her what she thought she was doing. He was silenced by her hand motion, and she indicated the opening of the alley.  
He watched as a cloaked and hooded figure passed, hesitating just noticeably to peer into the darkness of the alley. The figure then quickly moved away. Montoya turned to the woman. She ignored him as she stepped closer to Ranger Del Vientos. She took his crutches, snapped them into smaller, unrecognizable pieces and tossed them aside. She then threw his arm around her shoulders and hers around his torso. She then moved off further down the alley.  
“Why break the crutches?”  
“This is faster.” Nothing else was forthcoming as she kept walking.  
Montoya and Edson had no choice but to follow. They walked for what seemed like hours upon hours. The woman wasn’t forthcoming with any information and didn’t complain at the weight of the much larger Del Vientos. Finally, she turned into a doorway and propped Del Vientos against a wall. Montoya expected her to open the door. She didn’t, instead she bent and, using a hidden catch, opened a trapdoor in the entry. “Come on.”  
She then went down the hole. Montoya followed, having little other choice. He looked around and when he found they were alone he signaled his companions. Edson helped Del Vientos lower into the hide-away. He then followed. The woman instructed Montoya to get his man out of the way so she could seal the entrance. They moved, she closed the door. “Follow me. We can talk here, but I won’t answer any of your questions until we are secure in a briefing room, and after we get your friends some medical attention.”  
They followed. She lead them further and further down underground. Finally, when Montoya thought he couldn’t take another step, with Del Vientos weight pressing on him, they were there. She opened an unnoticed door. Inside was a medical facility. A fully functional Medlab, Montoya noticed. The woman called out for assistance. The swarm of activity startled him and Edson. Del Vientos, he noticed, was barely conscious. A doctor and his assistants brought in a stretcher, and loaded his now unconscious companion onto it. They then wheeled him away. Another group of aids brought a wheelchair for Edson. At first the younger ranger looked unwilling to go with them, but at Montoya’s nod he let them take him away to an examination room.  
“Now follow me. I’ll show you to your quarters. You’ll have the chance to ask your questions there.”

********************************B5***************************

With that she led him through the Medlab and into a cavern. The only way he figured it was a cavern was the overhead view of solid stone. Spread upon the ground before him were homes, and buildings. It looked like a small town in this underworld. “Wow.” His voice had taken on a reverent tone.  
“Yeah. Come on.” She led him through the ‘streets’ until she came to a building that looked no different from all the others here. She opened the doors and bade him follow her inside.  
She lead him up a flight of stairs and into a large room. He noticed doors around the common room. In the room sat furniture and off to one side was a small counter with a sink and a heating plate for cooking. “Its not much but its all we dare build. The others are probably hiding in their rooms. None of them truly trust us.”  
“What others?”  
“The other Rangers. I have gathered and saved as many as I could. You, I fear, are the last that I have been able to locate. The rest are either holed up with another of our groups, or dead.”  
“How many are here?”  
“Only a few. Ten at most. We were unable to save many of the ones brought in. Most are still in the Medical Facility being treated, or recovering.”  
“Ten, out of the thirty sent there are ten left.” His voice had taken on a tone of grief.  
“Not now. You have work to do, and we don’t have time for you to mourn your lost companions.”  
“How cold are you, woman? That you allow no grief for those lost.”  
“One who has too much at stake to worry over their own grief may appear cold to others.”  
“That is a poor excuse.”  
“Not when I don’t want to grieve. Look, I don’t have time for your sympathy I have work to do here. Ask what you want and I’ll tell you what I can.”  
“For starters how many other cities like this one are there?”  
“Three. We would have made more, but I lost my partner.”  
“That’s why you lost your name.” He realized.  
“That’s none of your business. Why do you care anyway?”  
“Because you are obviously still hurting because of the loss.”  
“Maybe I am. That doesn’t mean I am going to jump in the sack with the first man who shows interest.”  
“That’s not what I want. I merely want to show you some compassion. Its the least I and my friends owe you.”  
“Don’t waste your time. I’ve lost enough to know when its time to quit trying.”  
“Sounds like a lonely and cold existence.”  
“That’s the way I like it.”  
“Fine. What can I call you?”  
“Whatever you like. As I said I lost my name months ago. The others call me Red. You can too. Anything else that you’d like to know?”  
“Why do they call you Red?”  
She sighed in exasperation as she threw off the hood still covering her head. Montoya drew a breath in awe. She had long dark red hair that was pulled back out of her face in a braid. Her skin was a creamy white and her eyes dark pools of liquid chocolate. He quickly moved to cover his reaction to her so as not to offend. “Is that all then?”  
“For now, but how to contact you would be a help.”  
“You don’t contact me. I contact you. What I say goes around here. Your friends will fill you in. My law is the only law its what keeps us all alive, get it.”  
“Loud and clear ma’am.”  
“You’re free to roam around, but if you see a restricted area you had better steer clear of it. You are safe here as long as the rules are followed.”  
“I understand. Please, let me know how things on the surface are going and let me know how my friends are recovering.”  
“I will keep you up to speed. The only communications allowed down here are low tech ancient short wave radios, anything more advanced and the Drakh will pick it up. There are updates on the battles above hourly. If you have a need to contact someone off-planet you’re out of luck for a while. I have to go now.” With that she turned lifted the hood and exited the room. After the door closed behind her three of the other doors around the room opened to expose four members of the other teams.  
“Hello my friends. Its nice to see that some others made it. Why didn’t you come out when we arrived?”  
“We have made a few mistakes here, Sir. We are not allowed within her sight.”  
“What sort of mistakes?”  
“We snuck into one of the restricted areas to see the reason for the restriction. I’m afraid that we were only partially successful. She caught us soon after we entered the area in question. We did see some sort of data charts. They looked like a war plan, but not one for Centauri Prime.”  
“Sounds like we need a better look at them. Here’s what we’ll do.”

********************************B5***************************

Red had come to update Montoya on the condition of the other rangers. He and the others left their rooms just after her departure, and followed her path. When they caught sight of her, Montoya looked for an inconspicuous place to drop out of the group without being noticed. Finally she went through a bazaar of sorts and he mixed easily with the crowd. He waited for a moment to see if they’d been followed. After their tail had passed him by he took off for the area that his comrades had told him about.  
It didn’t take long to find Red again, he followed her. She had taken a round about way, but he was sure that this was the same area that the others had told him about. He watched her until she disappeared into a building. He then looked for a place that he could use to gain access to the area without notice. He finally found a way and headed for the building he’d seen her disappear into. He wanted to be sure that she wouldn’t come upon him by accident.  
When he reached the building he sighed in relief. He assessed that this was her home. It had a window looking out over the city. It was through this window that he saw the furniture and the kitchen, it wasn’t much different from his own shared rooms. The same hot-plate and sink. He noticed that there were only two other doors though. Through one he could see a bedroom, and Red herself was nowhere to be seen. Montoya assumed that she was behind the closed door, but he wanted to be sure. So he waited and watched. Eventually she appeared from behind the door; it looked as if she’d showered. He watched her for a moment. She walked into the bedroom and returned with a glass and what looked to be a bottle of liquor. She poured a glass and downed it in one gulp, as she lifted a framed picture and looked at it. Montoya didn’t get a good look at it, and once she sat down it was hopeless to get another look. She proceeded to drink, and finally passed out. He wondered at her behavior, but was thankful that she’d be out while he looked for the plans the other team members had seen.

********************************B5***************************

 

After she passed out, Montoya left and went in-search of the building the others had described. He found it without much trouble, and entered through an open window after the room’s occupant had left on a short errand. He sneaked into the building proper and noticed that there was little staff left in the structure. The room he was looking for was harder to find. It was nestled deep within the other offices, but he eventually found it and began looking around.   
What he found looked like a map of tunnels under the surface of a planet, and one of the maps had what appeared to be a plan of attack upon one of the tunnels and the chambers that they lead to. He was almost certain that they were exactly what they looked like. If he was going to be absolutely positive though there was only one person he could ask about them, and that meant getting caught here red-handed.  
He promptly laid the papers out over the desk as though he were going over them. He then proceeded to make the most noise he could without making it look like he was trying to get caught. He didn’t have to wait long for the security guards to find him. They roughly restrained him and ‘escorted’ him to the house he’d been watching earlier, which was exactly where he wanted to go.

********************************B5***************************

 

She didn’t know what felt worse; the pounding in her head, or hearing the pounding on the door. She scrunched her eyes shut and hoped that the noise would stop. It didn’t.  
“All right!” She yelled in frustration. Every time she did this someone came and made her hangover a punishment instead of the release she sought, and every time she vowed that she would never do this again but eventually, inevitably she did. “Enter already.” She rose off of the couch and moved to stand in the bedroom doorway before the front door finished opening. “What is it?”  
One of the Tac security guards stood in her home’s entry. “We caught one of the strangers in your office, ma’am. He was looking over your Schematics when he knocked over a potted plant. It alerted one of the others who stayed late tonight and he called us.”  
“Bring him in, and find Jaxon. He was supposed to be watching them. I’ll want to have a little talk with him later today.” They ushered Montoya into the room. She shook her head. “Why am I not surprised to see you here?”  
“Maybe because you know more about my group than you let on.”  
“What do you want me to say? That I’ve dealt with your like before? That I don’t trust your order? Or something else?” She waited and continued when he didn’t speak. “Consider it said. You can also consider that I don’t like your order very much and you can give me a good reason why I shouldn’t kill you where you stand.”  
“I really can’t, ma’am. Lets just say that after talking to my friends my curiosity got the best of me and I had to see what you were hiding. Like your home, by the way, its much nicer than the rooms I share with four other people.”  
“It will soon be five. Edson will be released tomorrow, and do you know what curiosity did to the cat, Mr. Montoya.”  
“Yes I do. I also know that you are planning a strike against some underground stronghold. I’d like to help if you’ll allow it. My job here is to free this world. We obviously didn’t know about the underground homes that the Dark Ones have. If we are going to free this world we have to take out all the Dark Servants. We have to make them leave the planet.”  
Red turned and motioned the guards out of the room. She then walked over to Montoya and released his hands from the binders. “Sit down and we’ll talk. Just let me get dressed.” He did as asked and she left him alone.  
As he sat there he noticed the frame, which he’d seen her looking at earlier, on the floor. He picked it up and looked at the picture it held. It was an exquisite pencil sketch of a Minbari. The drawing held a sense of great sorrow and lost love. The eyes were half-lidded, and the mouth set in a grim line. The eyes, what he could see, were full of emotion. He noticed all these little details and then looked at the whole picture together. He gasped and almost dropped the picture when he recognized the face.

********************************B5***************************

 

She re-entered the living room to find the ranger still sitting, which was amazing, and staring open-mouthed at the drawing she had done of her long time partner and recently lost love. She strode purposely over to him and took the drawing violently out of his grasp. “Thank you for picking it up,” she said, but there was no gratitude in her tone.  
“You...” He tried again. “You knew Lennier.”  
“I knew the one in the picture, yes. I am not discussing him with you though. With you, I am discussing the incompetence of the Anla’Shok.” She said Anla’Shok with something less than reverence and something more than distaste. “You and your group are lacking in mental skills as far as I can see. The Drakh lived on Z’ha’dum with the Shadows. The Shadows lived underground. Why would they stop living like their former masters now?” She said all this while glaring at him in contempt.  
“You don’t trust or like us much do you?”  
“No, I don’t. Your organization was the cause of the reason I lost the one thing in my life that was good, kind and decent. Why should I trust your order when they abandoned such a loyal and caring individual.”  
“We didn’t abandon him. Many of our order begged him to stay, even Entil'zha. He would not listen to us.” He looked her over. Her stance was something between a threat and poised for flight. Her shoulders were stiff and her jaw clenched tightly. “You loved him.”   
Those three words were the last straw. She had been fighting with her pent up emotions since the first ranger had been found. She didn’t know if she was angry with them or if she just blamed them because there was no one else, but at those three words she knew that she was angry at this ranger and he was within striking distance. What she didn’t bet on was his quickness and his strength. She found herself wrapped in his arms as she truly broke down for the first time since her life had ended with her love over five months ago.

********************************B5***************************

He held her as the sobs wracked her subtlety muscular form, and he only let go long enough to allow her to turn in his arms and bury her head in the robes he wore to cover his uniform tunic. He stroked her hair and shushed softly as her grief was purged. The process was a long one. She had held so much inside for so long that it had begun to build pressure, and like an over full oxy tank she exploded, and she latched onto the first person who’d shown compassion for her feelings. The attack started violent and progressed to feeble and ended on calm. Her fists rested on his chest where they had last fallen and she left her face buried in the robes as her breathing evened out.  
“I’m sorry.” Her voice broke the silence that had fallen after her sobs ended.  
“Don’t be. You loved him. You still do and you always will, but you have let your grief consume you. It has made you appear cold and uncaring, which you may have been, but I saw in you the things that you keep hidden behind the facade. The things that I hope my friend saw in you. Abilities to lead that most others would over look because of a pretty face.” He took a deep breath. “He did see them didn’t he?”  
She nodded softly against him, as she pulled away and turned her back to him. “We had worked together, earned each other’s trust and respect over a decade long partnership. That respect and that trust and that partnership was forged in fire. We had only just admitted and surrendered to our further feelings when he was called away by your rangers. I knew that he had to do this if we were ever to be truly together. He had to forgive himself. He had to allow those in his past to forgive him, and he had to say goodbye to her.”  
“Do you know why he was even in the position to become your partner?”  
“Yes. We spoke of his past when mine was collapsing around our heads. First I find that my sister had a family before she died. Then I find that the apple of her eye was killed in the last Teep war, by the virus that the PsiCorps unleashed on the rouges, and her husband killed himself not long after I met him and he gave me all of the memories of his family. Lennier was a great help during those hard months. Watching the life of my niece go past and end in those few tapes was sometimes too much. When it was Lennier would stop the records and speak of his own family and those friends that he had betrayed. At the time I didn’t understand why he told me those things. Now I think that he knew that if he ever got the chance to forgive himself his end wouldn’t be far behind. That is the reason he didn’t let me accompany him on that last quest.”  
“He was always like that. He thought that he could handle any task by himself.”  
Her voice softened even further as she said, “I miss him so much that it hurts.”  
“I know it does, but your life has moved on. Now all you have to do is convince your heart.” She turned back to him sharply and the smack of her hand on his face was the only sound.  
“I’ll worry about my heart, thank you. You still went against my rules. Why can’t you and your group leave well enough alone?” She was in control again, and he knew that he’d crossed the line with that comment.  
“Its not in our nature to butt out.” She chuckled a bit at his statement, at least he’d gotten her to loosen up in his presence.  
“Don’t I know it. Lennier almost drove me insane when I was looking for my sister a few years back.”  
“I’d like to hear about him sometime. He was a good friend. For now though, I’d like to know what you are planning to attack using those maps.”  
“If you had done a more thorough job of surveillance on this planet you’d know. You’d also know that you aren’t going to succeed in your mission to drive them off planet unless you chop off the head of the snake.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“In the chamber marked red on the maps resides the leader of the Drakh. The only way to drive the Drakh off this planet is to kill or capture the leader. Lennier and I were working toward that goal when he was killed. You were in his office tonight, not mine. I no longer have an office there. My office is here.”  
“I’m sorry if I have offended. I should have respected your guidelines, but my comrades spoke of the things they’d seen and I had to find out if it had anything to do with our plans.”  
“It doesn’t, it was an old plan.” Her eyes lit up as realization dawned. “It could though. Everything is pretty much in place for the operation. All we need are a few others to help us.”  
“I have four good men and women that will be happy to help. Though we’ll need more than five people.”  
“No, actually the plan was designed to use as few individuals as possible. Five should be perfect for the operation.”  
“Then lets get busy.”

********************************B5***************************

The rangers sat silently around the table in the briefing room as Red explained the plan. She detailed what needed to be done when and where and how they would get past all the security measures that the Drakh had set up around their leader. After this last briefing they would pair off and move to their staging areas. She had paired herself with Montoya since she was leading the operation and he knew the operatives better than she did.  
Montoya finished his speech and sent them off. Red stood to take one last look at the large version of the map tacked to the wall. “Can I ask you something?”  
“What is it Montoya?”  
“What was your name before Lennier’s passing?”  
“It doesn’t matter.”  
“It does to me. I’d like to know the name you gave away for the loss of my friend.”  
“It was Syra, and yes I know I am supposed to choose another name to signify my readiness to move into another relationship. I just don’t feel ready yet. The funny thing is Lennier didn’t comprehend the ritual that my religion demands, but he did try very hard. I doubt if I will ever feel ready again. He was my heart and soul.”  
“You have to move on. You can’t dwell on the loss of the past.” He came and gently laid his hands on her shoulders. “I won’t let you lose your life to grief. I understand your beliefs because I knew others with the same beliefs, but I don’t think that Ranger Lennier was your soul. He never could have given that much of himself to just one person. He was always the one who had to help all or as many as possible. Maybe he changed, but I don’t think he could have.”  
She spun around and knocked his hands away. “What would you know about it? You cast him out of your precious Anla’Shok. You left a good being to die slowly of guilt. He never told me exactly what happened, but it couldn’t have been so bad. He was such a kind and giving person. He saved my life more than once and never asked for a return. He loved without taking for himself. If he was to get anything out of my love for him I had to give it knowing he would surely not accept it.” The tears were once again rolling, as they had been over the past week. Ever since she had broken down in Montoya’s arms she couldn’t turn off the grief that she felt like a knife in her gut.  
Montoya’s face fell when he saw the tears. “I’m sorry.” He encircled her shoulders and hugged her to comfort and soothe the pain he’d caused. “He was my friend. I am still angry with him for leaving the Anla’Shok when he should have stayed and faced the mess he created.”  
“I don’t want to know what he did. Maybe some day, but not now. It feels like I just lost him yesterday not five months ago.” She slipped her arms around him and comforted him as well.  
“I know, and that is because you only just began to grieve for him and let him go. You’ve been in shock. You’ve been angry. Now all that is left is to move on, and most times that is the hardest thing to do.”  
“You are trying your damnedest to help me though, aren’t you.”  
“I won’t lie. Yes, I am trying to get you to move on, to love again, and it certainly wouldn’t be unwelcome if you moved on into my arms, but I’ll not push you if you don’t want it. Do you want me to stop?”  
“I don’t know. I just know that I am not ready to take another name. I will feel it when the time is right, and this isn’t it.”  
“I can respect that. Just let me know when you are ready.”   
“You’ll be the first. Give me time. I like being around people again, but I’m just not ready for a relationship. At least I don’t think I am.”

********************************B5***************************

They had fought their way passed all the obstacles and guards and met up with the other teams. Now they were cutting their way into the sanctum of the Drakh leader. Shiv’kala sat on his throne with a weapon in hand, and his keepers above the doors waiting to drop on whoever dared to enter his sanctuary. He realized that it was almost hopeless to try anything because he had no where else to go. There was no escape from this place and he would not be captured alive.  
The door finally came down and the rangers ahead of the resistance leader stormed the room the first three to enter fell to the floor clawing at their backs. Red recognized what was happening to them, took aim, and ended their misery. Montoya gave her a betrayed look, but wasn’t allowed the luxury of dwelling on her actions as a weapon opened fire in front of them. He felt one of the Drakh’s energy bolts graze his body and then was aware of no more.  
She saw him take the hit, and looked with hatred at the creature before her. They were the cause of her grief. It was they who were manipulating the Centauri who’d killed her love. She let go of her anger and grief in that instant and opened fire upon the creature of Darkness that sat proudly on the other end of the room.

********************************B5***************************

 

When Montoya came to he expected to open his eyes in a holding cell, but he found that he was in the medical facility that Red had shown him the first day they’d come underground. He further noticed the ones around him they were all from his team. The ones who’d gone down to defeat the head of the snake. Three of them looked to be in horrible shape. They were on life-support and the readings that he could see told him that they’d be lucky to make it. The fourth ranger was sleeping in a bed opposite him. The damage there seemed only superficial.  
Then he rolled over and spotted her. There was a gauze wrap around her left arm and the other looked red as though she’d gotten a sunburn. Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be sleeping, but he had to know why she’d shot his men. He took inventory of his own body and once he ascertained that he was in good working order he rose and crossed to her side. She opened her eyes as he sat down. Her voice when she spoke was drawn with pain, “You shouldn’t be out of bed.”  
“I have a question that can’t wait though.”  
“I shot them because of the Keepers.” She answered the unasked question. “Do you remember seeing them fall to the ground and twisting and scratching at something that we couldn’t see.”  
He thought back. Yes he did remember. He had seen them fall and wondered what was happening to them. Then she’d shot all three of them coldly. “I do.”  
“The Drakh have these things that look like spiders. They are Keepers a symbiotic species, and when they attach themselves to another it gives control of that person to the one whose keeper they are.”  
“How do you know about these Keepers?”  
“I have been in the exact same position as your friends are now. We are controlling their recovery, in fact they were actually dead for a short time. Its the only way that we have found to remove the symbiots. For some reason if their host is killed they die too, so they have to exit the host’s body before the body dies. That’s why I shot them, and to disable them. The leader had control over them and they would have fired upon us had they not been stopped.”  
“How long will it take for them to recover, and what exactly happened to you. Now we can really call you red.” He indicated the angry burn on her arm.  
“No, you can call me KayLynn. As for what happened, I avenged the death of my love. The Drakh were responsible and they have paid the price. Oh, you should call who ever you are supposed to call and let them know that the Drakh are evacuating Centauri Prime. We have equipment here in Medlab. I’ll get someone in here to take you to the communications room.”  
“Not yet. I want to know what happened to you.”  
“I burned him, that Drakh. He was responsible for it all. I shot him until my PPG overloaded and exploded just as I threw it. I was still to close, but at least I wasn’t killed. I saw you go down and the others and I remembered Lennier, and I just lost it. Doc says it’ll be a long recovery, and I’ll need to get lots of fresh air. Not this dank underground air. Do you know of a place I might find some good doctors and lots of fresh air?”  
“I can think of a few places. We’ll talk about them later. You’re right, KayLynn, I need to inform my superiors.” She pressed a button on her bed as she smiled at him. Moments later an orderly arrived.   
“Montoya needs to contact his superiors and I have given him permission to do so. Take him to the communications box.”  
“Yes Ma’am.” The orderly turned to indicate him. “If you’ll come this way?”  
Montoya followed and when he was deposited in the room that housed the communications network he sent the mission accomplished message to Sech Turval. He then returned to her side and watched over her as she slept. There was nothing to do now, but wait for their pick up, and he was going to make sure she was with him.

 

********************************B5***************************

John and Delenn had just sat down to try and have a quiet meal together when the Com beeped for attention. “Damn it!” John swore. He’d been trying for two weeks since they’d lost contact with the rangers on Centauri Prime to get Delenn to relax. He stood before she had the chance and moved into the living room. “I’ll get it.” He said over his shoulder. “Yes, what is it?”  
Turval’s face appeared on the screen. “Mr. President, is Entil’zha available, I have urgent news from Centauri Prime.”  
Delenn was at his side before he’d even turned to call for her. “Tell us, Turval.”  
“We have received a message from Montoya. There are not many of them left alive, but they have accomplished their mission. We have also received a message from the Whitestar waiting in hyperspace. They have spotted the Drakh fleet and are in pursuit.”  
“Thank the stars. We can be thankful that those who survived are coming home to us.”  
“They are all injured and Montoya thinks he may have found a new recruit. I must go, Entil’zha. I will see you after you carry out your preparations and meet us at the rendezvous point. We must move quickly if we are to rid the universe of these Dark servants.” He bowed in respect and ended the call.  
John turned and headed for David’s room. “Grab your stuff, David. The balloon just went up.” He said as he poked his head into the room.  
“Right. Give me a sec.”  
“You’ve got the time it takes me to get my bag. Hurry.”  
“Aye, Sir.”  
“Funny. Really.”  
“Sorry, I’ll be ready. I just have a couple things I want to stuff in my bag that I didn’t pack because I was using them.”  
“I understand.” He left and headed to his and Delenn’s room. She was already there stuffing clothes in a bag.  
“I am going to go with Durhan and Turval, John. I need to get there as soon as possible.”  
“I thought you were coming to Earth with David and me to get Jade and take them to Dad’s place.”  
“I would; I had planned on it, but now...”  
“I understand Delenn. I just thought you would want to see Jade before we head into it.”  
“I do, but I believe it would be a double edged experience. I don’t want to worry him more than we have to.”  
“I know, but what if something happens to one or both of us. His last memories will be conversations over an InterStellar link.”  
“I can not, John.” Her voice was strained with tears. “Knowing that I am leaving to go into battle and that I will have to order the deaths of many. I can not face him or David, John.”  
He dropped what he was doing and pulled her into his arms. He held her close comforting them both. “I’ll hug him for you, love. If there is anything you want me to tell him, or record a message and I’ll give it to him. Just... We have to leave him something.”  
“I have messages for both our sons ready. All I have left is to give them to you.”  
He pulled his hand between them, and she placed a data crystal in his palm. “I’ll make sure he gets it.” He slipped the crystal into his pocket and pulled her close again. “Be careful. I’ll meet you at the rendezvous. I love you.” He kissed her long and hard and let her go.  
“Me too.”  
She grabbed her bag and with a last quick kiss was out the door.


	9. Chapter 9

********************************B5***************************

John sat in the state room with David. He looked over the latest news from the Whitestar tailing the Drakh fleet. So far, they hadn’t made any offensive moves toward anyone. He hoped it lasted at least as long as it took him to get to Earth. David was unusually subdued he noticed and asked about it. “What’s on your mind, son?”  
“I don’t know. I guess I’m worried about everything. Really, I think its something that Jade told me about the day he left. He asked actually. He wanted me to make sure you guys didn’t go into Hyperspace. I didn’t understand it, but he was really scared and,” He trailed off. “I guess its just getting to me.”  
“I know. I was witness to a couple of his dreams, when he would talk occasionally in his sleep. They were frightening, even for me. Some of the things he would call out made me want to lock both you and him and your mother in the house and never let you out again because I know you’ll be safe there. I can’t do it though. It wouldn’t be the right thing. Life is full of risks and dangers. You have to face the danger and the fear of losing someone that means everything to you. You can’t bury yourself or the people you love away from the risks because that would be taking their lives away from them. I know that most people don’t face quite the same dangers as your mom and I are going out to face now, but from the right perspective its no different. Normal people with everyday jobs have normal everyday risks. Presidents and Entil'zha's have extraordinary jobs so along with that comes what seems like extraordinary danger.”  
“I understand Dad. Still, I get worried when you or Mom go into battle. There are times, even, when you are just going out to walk among the people on the street. Like when the threats were made a couple years ago. Even though some crazy person said they wanted to kill you, you still went out and met the people who elected you.”  
“I’m sorry, David. I didn’t know you had heard about that. That was different though. That was my life. I wasn’t about to let the petty threats that guy was throwing around stop me from being the best damned man I could be, and I wasn’t going to allow him to dictate the way I interacted with the people I make decisions for everyday.”  
“I know that now, Dad, but then I was still pretty young and I don’t know. It scared me.” John, walked over to where David stood and hugged his elder son.  
“Things haven’t been easy lately have they?”  
“Not really, Dad. I got used to Jade being around. I’m okay.”  
“You may be used to it now, but it has been a huge adjustment for all of us. You, especially, I suppose. You went from being an only child to having a six year old vying for your parents attention, and with Jade having been through all that he had we were preoccupied with him. Your needs were, well they were preempted by the needs Jade had, still has, if we want to be really honest with ourselves.”  
“And we do.”  
John chuckled. “That we do. The thing is. I feel bad about that. I’m sorry you were pushed aside for so long.”  
“Dad, I wasn’t pushed aside. I wasn’t even around for the first three months. I was training. It was no big deal.”  
“It was a big deal, David. You came home to an extra person, and its an adjustment even if you welcome it.”  
“At first, yeah. I thought he was a pain, the way he followed me everywhere and asked a million questions. Then I remembered how he was when Mom first brought him home, and I figured that I liked him better when he was following me around really wanting my attention, than when he was so scared of me that he’d flinch and hide if I so much as looked at him.”  
“I can’t disagree with that. He’s an amazing little person. He’s going to have a hard time the next few weeks. You’ve been through this before, and I know you’ll worry so I won’t tell you not to. I need to ask you to help him, though. Give him a little room when he needs to spend some time on his own. Help him to deal with everything until your mom and I can take over, and take it easy on him. Show a little patience and remember that he’s not entirely comfortable around your grandparents and your aunt and uncle. Give him time to adjust again. Susan will be around for a while, but I’ve requested that she be cleared to take command of one of the Whitestars. We’ll need her skills out there, and Marcus will be leaving with me. You are going to be the only one around that Jade feels comfortable with. Encourage him to talk to you about what he’s thinking and feeling.”  
“Okay. If I am being strong for him it will help me to be strong for myself and not worry so much.”  
“Maybe, but don’t neglect your own feelings. If you find that you are getting angry at people easily, go out and scream or cry, or talk to your grandparents or your aunt. They can help.”  
“I know, Dad. I will. Just come back okay. We don’t have all that much time left with you as it is, but I, for one, want that time.”  
“I will, son. I want that time too.” John pulled David close and his son, still not too old to hug his father, held on for a long time.

********************************B5***************************

Susan, Marcus and Jade were halfway through breakfast when the Com signaled. Susan, having been on edge since John’s call, was up out of her chair like a PPG shot and out in the living room answering. John’s face stared at her. “What’s happening John?”  
“Well, David and I will be arriving sometime tomorrow. Delenn has joined the fleet and requested Marcus join us as well. I thought I should give you some warning before we just showed up.”  
John heard an excited inquiry from the background on Susan’s end. “Daddy?!”  
“Its okay John.” She paused as Marcus herded Jade out of the room. “I’ll keep him home tomorrow.”  
“No, no send him to school. I don’t want his routine interrupted unless it is an absolute emergency. I’ll wait to take him to Dad’s until tomorrow afternoon. We’ll see you tomorrow. I’ve requested your assistance, to command the Whitestars, from EarthDome. They said they’d think about it and get back to me. I think they’ll take maybe a week or two and then you’ll join us out there.”  
“Thanks John, I think I might go nuts if I have to sit this one out. Maybe I should join up with you guys and move to Minbar.”  
“I’m sure Jade would like that a lot, but I doubt you’ll do it. You love your job and we both know it. Look I have to go, I’m expecting a call from Delenn. I’ll see you tomorrow. I’d like it if you could discreetly pack a bag for him. Enough clothes for a few weeks. We don’t know how long this is going to take, so I want him to have enough to last a while. See you soon.”  
“Don’t worry, John, I’ll have everything ready. See you later.” She cut the transmission and walked back to find her men, as she’d taken to calling Marcus and Jade. She found them in Jade’s room. Marcus had gotten Jade to show him a new game that Garibaldi had sent a few days earlier. Jade didn’t look too comfortable though. She understood all too well, what John meant when he said he didn’t want to disrupt Jade’s routine. Jade became increasingly upset when the unexpected happened. He wasn’t allowed to play games before school on most days, and he’d already been told that he couldn’t today. “Hey, having fun without me?”  
Jade dropped his controller, ran to her and threw his little arms around her hips. “What's goin’ on Susochke?”  
“Nothing, baby.” She smoothed a lock of hair off his forehead. “Your dad just needed to talk to me alone for a bit.”  
“Should I go talk to him now?” He watched her with liquid eyes.  
“No he signed off. He was waiting for a call to come through. He’ll see you tomorrow though. He and David are coming to get you.”  
“Am I going home now?” He asked with eyes full of hope.  
“You really miss your home don’t you?” He nodded into her stomach. She noticed that he’d begun to bury his face like that more often than not of late. “I’m afraid that you’re not going home though. John is going to take you and David to your grandparent's home. You’ll be staying there for a little while. Your mom and dad have some things to do, and you can’t go with them.”  
“Why can’t I stay here?”  
“Because Marcus is going with them, and I’ll be joining them soon.”  
“No! Susochke, I don’t wanna stay by myself.” His small arms tightened around her.  
“You won’t be by yourself. David will be there.” He had started crying, and she knelt and wiped away the tears. “Hey, don’t cry. You’ll like it. I thought you liked them. I know you had a lot of fun the weekend we went.”  
“I do, but I want Mommy and Daddy to stay with me.”  
She sighed, recognizing the signs of stress that the continuing visions had caused. “They will be with you Dushenka. Right here,” She placed a hand over his heart. “We all will be there. Every time we are separated from each other.” She could feel him beginning to calm some what. “We will care for you and call you and we will not be gone for very long.” ‘I hope.’ She added silently.  
“Okay.” He hugged her again and she stood with him in her arms.  
“Let’s go finish eating and get you to school.” He nodded, but held onto her tightly. She carried him out into the dining room and sat with him on her lap. She pulled his plate over and subtly made sure he ate all the food on his plate. ‘I should have told John about all the things he’s going through.’   
She had decided that she and Marcus would handle this ‘hiccup’ in Jade’s psyche on their own, but as he became more and more unpredictable emotionally she began to wonder if she shouldn’t have said something sooner. ‘The strain of parenthood has officially set in.’ She thought, and then she realized, as Jade finished his meal and turned on her lap to snuggle, that she wouldn’t trade this for anything in the galaxy and beyond. She kissed his hair and held him close as she finished her own food. “Come on, lets take our plates and get you to school.”  
He hopped off her lap. ‘It looks like he’s feeling better,’ she noted, as he stacked both her plates and his and carried them into the kitchen. “Thank you.” She said as she stood and scooped him off the floor when he returned. She walked over and Marcus joined them at the door. He had Jade’s backpack in one hand and opened the door with the other.  
“Shall we go then.”  
“Lead on, noble knight.” She replied. He leaned around her small passenger and kissed her lips.  
“Ladies first.” She rolled her eyes and waked out the door. She got in the back of the car, as she had been doing since John’s call two weeks previous, and got herself and Jade situated. Marcus drove them to the school and, as always Susan accompanied them to the classroom.  
“You be good, and remember what I said.”  
“I’m always am good, and I remember everything that you tell me.”  
“Good. I’ll see you at lunch.” She hugged him and then straightened his shirt collar.  
“I’ll see you.” He watched as she turned to leave then ran and grabbed her hand before she could get too far away. “I love you, Susochke.”  
“I love you too, my Dushenka.” She bent to kiss the top of his head.  
“Eww, yuck!” Avery’s voice cut into the silence. “Kiss germs.”  
“Avery.” Came the warning voice of his mother.  
“Kisses don’t have germs. Besides I don’t mind Susochke’s kisses. She kisses me because I’m her Dushenka.”  
“That’s right, sweetling.”  
Lochley smiled at his young logic. “How have you been, Jade? You haven’t been over to play in quite a while.”  
“I’m okay. Susochke said that since my Dad could come to get me at any moment, I need to stay home. We’ve had fun playing at Susochke’s when Avery comes. Maybe I can come today though?” He looked up hopefully at Susan. She looked pensive, as if thinking the idea over. Jade smiled at her look knowing that it meant he’d get to go this time.  
“I understand. Have you heard from your dad?”  
“Yeah, he’s commin’ tomorrow.”  
Avery’s interest was peaked by this revelation. “So you’re gonna leave soon.”  
“Tomorrow. Dad’s takin’ me an’ David to Minnesota and we’re gonna stay with my grampa an’ my gramma.”  
“Tomorrow. That’s so soon. Do you think you might come play today? Mom, can he?”  
“That’s up to Susan and Marcus, Avery. I don’t have a problem with him coming to play.”  
“If Marcus goes I don’t have a problem with it. That is if you,” she indicated Lochley, “don’t mind Marcus.”  
“Not a problem. Could I speak to you though?”  
Avery rolled his eyes. “Uh, oh, grown up talk. Come on, Jade. Lets go get in our desks.”  
“Okay.” He looked back up at Susan.  
“Its okay, Dushenka. Go on.” He nodded and followed Avery into the room.  
“I’d love to stay, but I think I better go with our unpredictable young friend. See you at noon.”   
“You bet.” He kissed her quickly and went into the room.

********************************B5***************************

“What’s going on with that little boy?” Lochley asked candidly.  
“He’s dealing with a lot of new stuff, and he doesn’t react well to change.” Susan answered as they turned to leave.  
“Like what kind of changes?”  
“He wants to go home, but there are events that take away the possibility for him to go there right now. John’s coming here to bring David for safe keeping while the events I spoke of are taking place. Before you ask I can’t say anything. I don’t think I am supposed to know all of what I do.”  
“The Certauri thing finally hit.”  
“Would you please be quiet about this.” She hissed, “I don’t know if you understand, so I’ll spell it out, Sir. We are in a school, and not just any school, but a school where John Sheridan’s younger and easily upset son is in the classroom we are standing next to. He also knows nothing of what is happening. He knows something is wrong, but he doesn’t know what. He doesn’t need to know until John gets here and decides what he does need to know.”  
“I get it, General.” Lochley said with a hint of reprimand in her tone.  
“Sorry Admiral, but you’ll forgive me if I’m very protective of him.”  
“I understand that.”  
“No, I don’t think you do, and if you’ll walk with me I’ll explain it.”  
“Lead on.” Truth be told Lochley was curious about Jade’s story.  
Susan started walking, but didn’t say a thing until they were outside the building. “You have undoubtedly heard some of Jade’s story. Neither John, nor Delenn, nor I are stupid. The media has been after an interview with him for a long time and they have hounded the three of us and John’s family endlessly. John himself leaked the information you’ve seen so far. He didn’t say a thing about Delenn’s month long disappearance though.”  
“You’re right. I didn’t know about that.”  
“No one knows except John, Garibaldi, a few men who no longer live, Jade, and myself.”  
“Jade knew.”  
“Even if he hadn’t witnessed the whole thing he would have known. At the time she was abducted Jade was speaking only through her. By this I mean he spoke telepathically in her mind and she spoke for him. I thought he was catatonic for a while. John had only just earned his trust enough for Jade to speak in his mind. He stopped completely after that. No contact, he wouldn’t move we could barely tell that he was still breathing. We had to go to Medlab to get information from Lennier about what had happened to Delenn. Stephen was there, he’d been treating Jade since we found him. Naturally, he wanted to look him over for any extra damage and we left John and Lennier to talk. Lennier passed while John was with him. I’d taken Jade and he was lying on the bed with his head in my lap when John tried to pick him up. He became instantly glued to me. That little boy held me so tightly and was so scared that he made me afraid. I didn’t know what to do, but John insisted that I take him with me.   
“So, I spent that first afternoon with him on my lap holding on so tightly I had trouble breathing. I did my work and took him to eat something after my shift. Surprisingly he didn’t give me any trouble with that. By the time I took him to John he had fallen asleep, and still he held me with every ounce of strength in his small body.” Susan became choked at the memory and stopped speaking. Lochley, seeing her distress, reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. Susan calmed somewhat and continued, shrugging off the hand, “I went home after I laid him down in their bed.   
“Early that morning I was awakened by a scream in my mind. He had reached out to me, touched my mind screaming for me, and before I knew it I was in John’s room holding that hysterical child in my arms. I didn’t fall into a complete sleep the rest of the night. Jade was lying on my stomach and I was afraid to wake him so I didn’t sleep for fear that I’d roll over and wake him.   
“The next day was the same as the day before, and that night was no different. After that night John convinced me to keep Jade all the time. We moved him in and that is where he spent the month. When I had him with me all the time I reconnected with something I had shut off over a decade before when Marcus died in my place. That little boy forced me to feel again. Everything I had done to convince myself that I was okay was tossed out an airlock because that child needed me to be stable. I read to him to put him to sleep at night. I sang lullabies. I held him when he was afraid, which was more often than not.”   
Tears that Susan had held for the past six months misted her eyes, as she fought for control. “And when Delenn got home. He still wouldn’t let go of me. He stayed with me. I knew that he was connecting with her again because when John told her about Lennier and held her as she grieved Jade grieved with her. He had suffered so much, and still he gave me the greatest gift anyone has ever given me. When he revived Marcus, however he did it, he gave me another chance to love.  
“I took him to John and Delenn, after Marcus woke, it was where he wanted me to take him. Yet, there was more. Neither of us knew that John has a limited amount of time left. I assume you know about it.” Lochley nodded. John had explained to her the specifics of his life limit before leaving Babylon 5 for Minbar. “He was in my lap when John started to tell us, and by the time he finished Jade was in John’s lap. We stayed and had dinner with them. A lot of friends were there. Marcus and myself, Stephen, Garibaldi, Lyta and Zack. Jade didn’t say one word, he didn’t eat much of anything, and he held onto John the entire time.   
“Finally we left. Marcus and I were the last to leave, and the next day when I talked to John he told me that Jade was confused emotionally, and he was holding it all in. He showed John his emotions and John told him to let it out and cry. He said that when Jade finally did, by the time he’d cried himself to sleep the entire front of John’s shirt was soaked. It was after that they started to really make progress. They had setbacks of course, but I know that was the first step in Jade’s recovery. So, you’ll excuse me if I am overprotective of My Dushenka.”  
Lochley was speechless for a long time after that. Susan just continued to wipe her tears away. “I had no idea that he was that serious.”  
“Oh, its more than that, I normally wouldn’t say so much, but I doubt anyone else would tell you, and you need to understand. Please, when he is at your house today watch what you say. He needs to hear what is happening from his father.”  
“Count on it. Maybe someday I’ll know the rest.”  
“Maybe, but not today. Please excuse me.”  
“Of course. I’ll see you later when you come to pick them up.” Susan nodded and left for her office.

********************************B5***************************

Jade sat in his desk listening to Mrs. Brockman when he suddenly felt someone push on his barriers. He lifted his head to look around. Everyone was working. He turned back to his own paper and felt it again. He decided to wait and see if the one pushing on his mind would try again. When the mysterious push came again he grabbed onto it with his thoughts and rode along as the consciousness returned to the one it was coming from. It was another boy who sat two desks behind Avery. Jade looked at him for a moment and then turned and continued to work. When it happened again he passed a note to the other boy asking him to stop. Again it happened, and Jade turned and asked him quietly. When it happened again he blocked the scan aggressively with more barriers. Finally, Jade’s head was beginning to pound with the effort it took him to block the scans. He put his pencil down and turned around to firmly order, “STOP IT, PLEASE!”  
Mrs. Brockman stopped teaching, “Jade, is there something you need?” Her tone was admonishing.  
“No sorry, Mrs. Brockman.” He went back to work. Again the scans started. “STOP! STOP! STOP IT! You’re hurting my head. I tried to be nice and get you to stop, but you kept doing it. Now, I’m telling you to stop scanning me! Next time I’ll show you a trick my teacher at home taught me to make people stop scanning me. It’ll make you afraid to scan anyone without permission.”  
“Jade, what is going on here?” Marcus asked worried.  
He pointed to the boy. “He keeps trying to scan my thoughts. Lyta says that we aren’t supposed to do that without the person’s permission. He keeps doing it and I tried to just block him, but my head is hurting because I have to keep the blocks up all the time because he keeps pushing, and I’m trying to concentrate on my work and he won’t let me.”  
“Jack, is this true?”  
“Yes ma’am. I wanted to be sure he was a telepath. I haven’t seen him around my dorm at PsiCorps. I wanted to know why.”   
Marcus looked up sharply at Mrs. Brockman. “When did PsiCorps start sending the children to regular schools, I thought they had their own schools for this.”  
“They do, but since the war, things have changed. Parents no longer have to send their children to the corps facilities to live. If they so choose they can stay home and go to regular schools. We are told, of course, which children are telepaths.”  
“But he spoke of dorms.” Marcus looked back to the boy.  
“Well, yes. In certain cases the corps classes are too full and some of their students come here.”  
“Why, weren’t we told of this. I thought Susan made it abundantly clear that we were to be notified of such things.”  
“I figured you knew. It has been standard procedure for years.” She sounded surprised that he didn’t know. She would he supposed, since she didn’t know that he’d been in suspension.  
Jade had listened and now felt compelled to answer Jack’s question of before. “Well, I’m not in dumb old PsiCorps. I am a Minbari citizen and PsiCorps has no jurisdiction over my training. That is what my mommy said to me. Apparently, my teachers are better anyway. I don’t go poking into someone else’s mind without permission.”  
At Jade’s words Jack’s face turned red with anger and he stood and lunged toward him. Marcus was faster though and had Jade behind him. “Young man, I think you had better return to your seat. Now.”  
“Yes sir.” Jack looked at them with venom in his eyes.  
“Mrs. Brockman, I think I’ll take Jade out for a while to let him calm down.”  
“Go on. Take all the time you need. Jack is going to go to the principal’s office with me.” She tapped the comm on the wall and asked for an aide to come sit with her class while she took care of Jack.  
Marcus took Jade’s hand and led him from the room.  
“I’m okay Marcus we didn’t have to leave.”  
“I know, but I need to contact Susan and tell her what happened. Anything like this I am to report immediately, and I didn’t want to leave you in there alone, even though he’s being removed.”  
“Oh.” Jade didn’t say more as Marcus led him away from his classroom.

********************************B5***************************

John waited impatiently for the call to transfer into his private room. When finally it did, he found himself looking at his wife’s worry lined face. “Delenn, what’s happened?”  
“They have started attacking, John. We need you here as soon as possible.”  
“I still have about three hours before we land. As soon as we’re down, I’ll pull Jade out of school and get the boys to Dad’s. I can be there in three or four days maximum speed.”  
“Please hurry.” She cut the transmission.

********************************B5***************************

It turned out that Jade hadn’t returned to class that morning. Susan had decided that he should stay home until the incident had been dealt with. She was very upset that it had taken place at all. She’d contacted John on the Whitestar, and consulted with whether or not Jade should go back the next day. John had been adamant that he go saying that he wouldn’t be getting much tutoring at the farm. He’d have ranger’s there to protect them discreetly and he had an instructor to teach them both while they were on earth.  
Jade sat in his desk the next day and noticed that Jack was not in class. He had been sitting there half the morning and was engrossed in his lesson. He suddenly felt a familiar presence nearby. He turned anxiously toward the classroom door. “Marcus, Daddy’s here!” His voice, Marcus noted, was half excited and half afraid. He was about to say something when a knock sounded on the door. It opened and an office aide walked in quietly to remove Jade from the class. Jade, however, was too excited to be discreet. “Dad!” Jade grabbed his bag and ran through the open door to John. John scooped him up to hug him tightly.   
“Marcus, we gotta go.” John’s voice held a note of urgency that left no room for argument. “I’m very sorry about the disruption to your class ma’am. I need to take Jade. I’ve spoken with the school administration officers. He most likely won’t be back for a while.”  
“We will see you when you do come back, Jade.” She said a little in awe. The students looked excited as well, they’d seen him on ISN.   
“Bye. Avery, say goodbye to your mom and dad for me. I’ll see you later.” To Avery, Jade looked kind of scared.  
“Bye Jade.” They waved at each other as Marcus joined John in the door and they walked out of the room.

********************************B5***************************

“Finally, you came to get me.” Jade exclaimed.  
“Had to, bud.” John said to him calmly.  
“Where’s Mommy?” Jade asked as he was carried down the halls of the building.  
‘Buy some time John.’ He thought to himself. “She’s busy. I have a message from her to give to you though.”  
“But something is wrong, Dad. I could feel it.” His voice and eyes dropped. “I feel you’re worried about Mommy.”  
“I am, Jade, but we’ll talk about that in a little while. How have you been?”  
“I missed you. All three of you, Mom, and David. Why do I hafta go ta Grampa’s? I wanna stay here if I can’t go home.”  
“We all missed you too, very, very much.” He hugged Jade closer and kissed the top of his head. “You have to go because Susan and Marcus have work now and there won’t be anyone to watch-over you.”  
“But I wanna go with you, Dad!”  
John was about to respond as they came to the doors and opened them. They were assaulted by hovercameras and reporters. “Mr. President,” “Mr. President,” “Can I ask...,” and “a moment of your time...” was all that was heard.  
John felt Jade’s arms tighten around his neck and his small body go rigid, and his face buried in his neck. “Damn it! I’d hoped to keep a low profile. Marcus clear us a path! We have to get moving.” He shouted above the din. “Its okay, Pal just hold onto me and we’ll be in the car in a minute. I’ll be able to talk to you there.”  
Jade tried to reply but it was caught up in the commotion and swept away unheard. He looked up slowly and watched while Marcus tried to clear a path. “Ladies and gentlemen, please step out of the way. The president is very busy right now, and we can’t take the time to make any statements or answer questions.  
It didn’t seem to help they just tried all the harder. “Is this your son?” and “Can I get an interview with...?” and “How is he adjusting...?” were the next barrage. Then, without warning, there was a loud honking noise and the revving of an engine. The press was startled considerably allowing John and Marcus to jump into the car that came to a screeching halt in front of them.  
“Get in Dad!” David was leaning over the ranger at the wheel and as soon as the door was shut the engine revved again and they were free of the press for the time being.  
John sighed into the silence, “They get worse every time. I suppose they’ve been watching me since it was determined I was the one on the Whitestar.” He looked to Jade, still holding onto him for dear life. “Are you okay?”  
“I think so Dad, but I don’t like those people. They’re scary.” John agreed readily.  
“I know I don’t like them either. I’ll have to call ISN again, and this time I’ll carry through with my threats of prosecution. They shouldn’t hound people at a school, but I guess I could have sent someone to pick you up too. This is all nuts you know.”  
Jade nodded in agreement with his father. “Now, why can’t I go with you?”  
“I wish I could tell you, Pal, but its classified.”  
“You’re going to fight the Dark Men. I don’t like the Dark Men. They hurt the people I care about. Like you and Mommy, and Susochke and David.”  
“Jade, what do they look like?” John was curious as to how Jade knew about the Drakh.  
“I don’t know. They have on these robes that cover their faces. I just know that they are the Dark Men because I feel it when they appear in the dreams.”  
“Jade, I know that the dreams scare you, but we have to help the people that the Dark Men are hurting. Do you understand?” Jade shook his head. “When I became the president I took an oath to help those peoples that had a need of our compassion to help them defeat an enemy, or render aid to those that lost homes because of the wars that raged around them. Now do you understand?”  
“I don’t know, Dad. I don’t know why I can’t go with you.”  
“Because I know that it will be dangerous for you to be there.”  
“Then you and Mom shouldn’t go either.”  
“I told you why we have to go. Don’t worry, Jade, we are going to be very careful.”  
Jade didn’t look convinced, and when he spoke he didn’t sound convinced either. “Okay, I guess. Can’t I stay with Susochke until she leaves, though.”  
John sighed, yes he certainly could stay with Susan until the senate decided that she could go help with the battle. He would admit to himself that coming to take Jade to his parent’s place was partially out of selfishness. He wanted to see his son before he dove head first into an unknown future. He wanted to see both his boys together before that same murky path began. He would not defer though. “Because I want you to be safe with your grampa and gramma so that Susan doesn’t have to worry about getting you there before she leaves to join us.”  
“Then Susochke could come and stay with us.” He sighed shallowly as he became overwhelmed. “I’m scared, Daddy.” His breathing became hyperventilation and tears rolled to his chin.  
“Calm down, shhhh. It’s okay. I’m here now and I’ve got you. I’m scared to, buddy. I’m scared that I won’t see you having fun, or teasing David until he’s ready to bust.” He wiped away the tears. “I will do everything in my power to see that your mother and I come back safely.”  
Jade nodded. “Then don’t go into hyperspace, Daddy! I’ve seen what will happen! Please! don’t go in hyperspace! You’ll get lost!” His breathing became labored the more agitated he became, and before long there were coughs between breaths.  
“Jade, Jade!” John tried to get the boy’s attention. “Get us to Susan’s! Jade, look at me. Hey, deep easy breaths. Come--”  
“Don’t bother.” Marcus interrupted. “That won’t help. He’s been getting these attacks lately. Especially, when he wakes up from a nightmare, or gets overly agitated. Susan about had a heart attack the first time it happened. He gets upset and hyperventilates then he starts coughing like his lung is turning inside out, and then he’s fine. We took him to Franklin over in EarthDome last week when it started. He checked Jade out and said that the stitches were starting to come loose and he’d start to cough up the pieces, for some reason or another they aren’t being absorbed, and not to worry about the coughing fits. Unless he starts coughing blood he’s alright. I don’t like it at all, and I didn’t understand why they didn’t laser close his lung to begin with.”  
“Yeah, well, it scares me to death. Stephen didn’t use the laser close because he didn’t want to leave scarring. He said that this might happen, sometimes patients are allergic or something to the degradable stitching and it doesn’t dissolve. We hoped that wasn’t the case. This is going to have my mother sitting beside herself with anxiety. Did Stephen say how long it would take?” He pulled Jade against him and held him close, once the spasm had passed and Jade reassured him that he was fine. He’d already gotten used to the coughing fits.  
“He couldn’t be precise but his guesstimate was two or three weeks, once it gets started. So far, it hasn’t really been a lot though the first of the stitches started to surface a couple days ago. Its disgusting, but not dangerous.”

********************************B5***************************

The ground car pulled up in front of the house and stopped, having been directed by Marcus. The ranger turned off the engine and exited the vehicle opening the door for John. John looked around and made sure that no reporters were around then he slid out of the car and lifted Jade out as well. It was then that the press showed up in a hover-van. John ran to the house, pulling Jade behind him. Marcus got the door open and they escaped the press.  
“That was close. I’ll go call Susan.”  
“I’m going in to get Jade packed. Tell her if she’s coming here that she should make it fast. I’m only staying long enough to get his things and then we’re on our way.”  
“Right.”  
David stood from his perch on the arm of Susan’s couch. “I’ll help you, Dad.”  
“That’s okay, I need to talk to Jade for a minute.” David nodded in understanding.  
“I’ll be here, then.” John, still holding Jade’s hand, nodded and headed for Jade’s room.

********************************B5***************************

“--long until you leave?! I’m not even going to get to see you before you go. Where can I get a-hold of you once you’re gone?” Susan shouted.  
“I don’t know, Suz. At least until we rendezvous with Delenn’s fleet. For now, I’ll be on the Whitestar with John. You know how to contact me there.” Came Marcus’s answer.   
“Yeah, what about Jade and David?”   
“John says that if you miss us here head over to his parents place. That is where we’re taking the boys. Jade, I think, will benefit from your presence. He’s frightened and worried. He had another episode in the car on the way here. John is understandably upset. I told him what Franklin said and it didn’t seem to help.”  
“I won’t even bother with the house, then. I’ll meet you at the farm. I can leave as soon as we end the call. Tell Jade I’ll meet him there.” Susan said more calmly  
“I will, I love you. See you in about an hour.”  
“I love you, too.” She ended the call and Marcus went to find the others.  
David was standing in the living room, looking at the framed photos on the walls. There were pictures of Susan’s parents and brother, and of Marcus’s own family. There were even some of John and Delenn and David. There were quite a few more of Jade. Susan had asked around at ISN and found where Jade had been born. The hospital where he’d been born took pictures of all the infants delivered there and she had been able to persuade them to give her a few copies. David was looking at the framed photo of Jade as a newborn when Marcus entered the room.  
“Hey, Dad wants a few minutes alone with Jade.” David turned and addressed Marcus. “Can I ask you a question?”  
“It would appear that you just did,” he chuckled, “seriously, go ahead and ask.”  
“Who is this picture of?” He indicated the newborn. “I mean, is there something you and Aunt Susan are keeping a secret about?”  
“No. That is a picture of your brother. Susan did some digging after we got settled here and found this picture in the hospital’s records, where your brother was born. She has another copy that she wants to give your mother and father on their anniversary. So, don’t say anything, okay?”  
“No problem. It doesn’t look like I’ll have the chance to tell Mom for quite a while anyway.”  
“Don’t worry, she and your dad know what they are headed into and they’ll be careful.”  
“I know they will. It doesn’t change the fact that they are headed into danger.”  
“I don’t know what to say to that.”  
“There is nothing you can say to it. I was just stating a fact.” He walked around taking note of the changes in Susan’s home here. Her quarters on Babylon 5 had been very necessity oriented. Very much the quarters of an EarthForce Officer. The atmosphere there had been bare and emotionless. Here, David noticed, the air was filled with a loving, caring sense. He looked around the room more closely and noticed some artwork on the coffee table in front of the couch. It looked like the work of a child. He stooped and lifted it. On the underside of the painted monstrosity was Jade’s name. David smiled at the sloppy handwriting.

********************************B5***************************

John had found the small, stuffed suitcase he’d requested in the closet, and he’d finished with Jade’s back pack. Jade was helping him to find all the necessary items for his stay at the farm. After John finished he sat on the bed as Jade put one last item in his pack.  
“Come here, Pal. We need to have a little talk.”  
“Okay. What about? I already know you’re going to fight the Dark Men.”  
“I know you do, Jade, but I don’t think you understand how dangerous this thing I am going to do is.”  
“Yes I do, Dad, I dreamed some of the things that are happening even now. I know that those rangers died. I saw them in my dream. How they died, I mean. It scared me, Dad. It scares me that you’re going to fight them. I’ve had dreams about that too, but I can’t tell you. I can’t talk about it anymore.”  
“I am so sorry that your dreams are hurting you like that, son. Come here.” John held his hands apart and Jade climbed into his lap. John hugged him tenderly. “I guess you know that Mom is already out there fighting the ‘Dark Men.’ She sent a message to you.” Jade nodded. “I’ll give it to you at Grampa’s so you can listen to it in private whenever you’re ready.”   
Jade gave another nod. “I don’t want you both to go, Dad. It’s scary by myself. I know I shouldn’t be scared, but I wanna go home. I haven’t been home in a loooong time.”  
“I know, Pal, and I wish I could take you, but this has to be done.”  
“I understand,” his voice gained a little more strength than it had held only moments before. “I just wish that one of you could stay with David and me.”  
“I know. Just remember that your grandparents love you very much.”  
“I will. I love you guys though, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”  
“We’ll just have to keep from getting ourselves hurt then.” Jade smiled a small smile at John and he decided that was best he’d get out of the boy. “Come on, we need to get moving.”  
“Wait, Dad, I have some stuff for you to take to my mommy.” Jade hopped off John’s lap and went to his desk. He pulled out some papers and things from the bottom drawer and brought them back to John. “These are for you and Mom. It’s artwork and stuff I did in school. Susochke has some of my other stuff, and I made these ‘specially for you and Mom.”  
John skimmed through it. There were drawings and paintings and knick knacks made from household items.   
He pulled one of the paintings from the pile. “Here this one is you an’ me an’ it’s when we were fishin’ at Grampa’s.”   
John looked at the painting closely. One of the red stick figures was larger than the other, and they both had a long brown pole in one of their hands. behind them was a blue circular lake. A yellow fish with whiskers hung from the larger figure’s line. “These are nice Jade. I’ll take them to Mom, okay.” Jade nodded his head and hugged his dad’s legs. John set the art on the bed beside the bags, and knelt to hug his son back. After a long moment John pulled reluctantly away from the scared little boy. “We need to get going, Buddy.” Jade nodded and shouldered his backpack. He then grabbed his suitcase and led the way back to David and Marcus.

 

********************************B5***************************

Susan was busy canceling her only afternoon meeting when a young woman was shown into her office. “Grayson, I said no more appointments. I have to get going.”  
“Sorry ma’am. This lady says that it is the utmost importance that she see you before you leave.”  
Susan finished the last of the calls on her list and gave her attention to the woman. She was tall and had a slender build. Her blond hair was waist length and she carried in her arms four different albums.  
“How can I help you Miss--”  
“Dara. Alanna Dara.”  
“Miss Dara.”  
“I can help you. Not the other way around.” Her speech had a thick Russian accent.  
“How can you help me?”  
“I believe that you have made inquiries about Drake and Tyna Mason and their son, yes?”  
“Yes I was looking for some baby pictures or anything really. There must have been documents left from before he was kidnapped. I have been searching since I got here, but so far all I have found is a hospital picture.”  
“Then I can help you. Tyna and I were very close for most of our adult lives. I was in a relationship when I met her and I introduced her to Drake through the man I was seeing. I am the godmother of her daughter, and she knew that Bishop was going to hurt them, but I don’t think she knew how badly he would hurt them. She entrusted me with all of their belongings when she found that they were being hunted by my former husband.”  
“Bishop was your husband.”  
“Yes, briefly. I had broken my marriage with him even before he destroyed their family. I brought you these albums full of photos. They are of Jade and his family. These three are of Jade alone, and the fourth holds the rest of the family. I have others of his family, but I’ll keep some memories for myself and my daughter.” She handed Susan the albums.  
Flipping one open, Susan saw what was definitely a small version of Jade. “I...Thank you. I know this must be hard for you. Giving away your albums like this.”  
“No these are rightfully Jade’s. His mother left them for him.”  
“I know I shouldn’t ask, but I feel like I need to know--”  
“You want to know why Bishop did what he did.” Susan nodded as she looked at the time, she needed to head out soon or she was going to miss them. “He simply went insane. He had been friends with Drake for a very long time. They both had joined Nightwatch together. Drake soon found he had little patience for the organization, but he didn’t quit. He stuck it out and didn’t take part in all the extreme practices of hate. He didn’t believe the things that the others did. He could never hate another race. His stepmother was Centauri. He was raised by her for the most part since he was two or three years old.” She paused as Susan looked at the time again. “I can come another time if you need me to.”  
“No, well I need to get moving. I have to meet some people before they leave, and I want to help settle a couple of boys in.”  
“Is Jade here on Earth?” Dara was fishing determined to find something out.  
Ivanova fought with what to say, but seeing that these were photos of Jade she decided that it was at least partially true. “Yes, his parents are going away on business and he will be on planet for a while.”  
“On business. I would think that the President of the Interstellar Alliance would have more pressing issues than to take a business trip.”  
“He does, that’s why he’s going on a business trip.” Susan answered cryptically.  
“I see. I would like to see Tyna’s baby boy again one day. Just to make certain that he is safe. I know who has adopted him, but I have seen nothing of him.” She looked saddened.  
“I can’t take you to him. Its not my place to allow you to see him I’m not his mother, but I can assure you that he is safe where he is. He is safer there than just about anywhere else. If I may, how did you know that?”  
“I kept up with the trial of my former husband. ISN ran it daily and mentioned that President Sheridan had taken responsibility for a child that was in Bishop’s possession. I hoped that the child was Jade. At any rate, there was no real reason for the deaths of Jade’s family. Bishop just went completely insane and his men followed him no matter what. I wish that there was a better reason, but that’s the way it is.”  
“Don’t I know it. Thank you again for the albums and thank you for the information. I wish that I didn’t have to run off so quickly, but I really do need to go.”  
“Then I will take no more of your time. Thank you at least for the assurance that my dear friend’s son is safe.” Alanna stood and left the room.  
Susan scooped the albums into her arms with the rest of today’s paperwork and bolted for her car, making a last minute decision to grab some clothes from the house. She requested a shuttle on her way to pack her bags. She was assured that the shuttle would be ready for her to use as soon as she got to it. She noted the disarray of Jade’s room through the connecting door, as she threw some clothes and a spare uniform in her overnight bag. She also put the photo albums in the bag and locked up on her way out the door.   
She reached the shuttle and sat herself in the pilot’s seat. This raised a protest from the Lieutenant who’d been assigned as her pilot for the trip. She ignored the protests he made as she received clearance for lift off and set course for Minnesota.


	10. Chapter 10

********************************B5***************************

The Whitestar set down with the barest of bumps on a landing pad in Minneapolis and John lifted Jade off the deck as he stood. “David get your stuff we need to move.” He transferred his small son to a one handed grip and lifted his suitcase off the bed. Jade had his backpack on his shoulders and was glad his dad had picked him up. Marcus entered the room and informed them it was safe to disembark. He then took Jade’s suitcase from John leaving him free to hold Jade with both arms. David reentered the room with a case, duffle and also a backpack slung over his shoulders.  
“I’m ready now, Dad. Lets get this over with.”  
John nodded, and they left the rooms, walked down the corridors and exited the ship. They got into another ground car and the ranger from before drove them to the farm. John’s Dad was waiting on the porch for them. “Hey dad. How is everything here?”  
“Well, it was quiet. Now, I don’t think it will be anymore.” The eldest Sheridan reached out to help David with his bags. “Hello, boys. We’ve been wondering when we’d see you again.”  
For a wonder, Jade was the one to speak up, though his voice held trepidation. “Hi Grampa, Dad says that we’ll hafta stay here for a while, so you’ll get to see us a lot. I hope you don’t get tired of us.”  
“I don’t think we will, sir. Your gramma and I are happy to have you here for any amount of time. Lets get you settled though. Come on inside.” The four travelers followed him inside and upstairs. “Drop your stuff here and we’ll sort it out and figure who’ll stay where.”  
John set Jade on his feet and the boy shed his backpack, as he and David said simultaneously, “I’ll sleep in Dad’s old room.” They looked at each other and said, “No I wanna sleep in Dad’s room.” David, the younger, held his hand up and said, “I always sleep in Dad’s old room when I stay with Gramma and Grampa.”  
“But I wanna sleep in my daddy’s room. I slept there last time.” Jade’s breathing was quickening as he became more upset. “I stayed there with my mommy and my daddy. I wanna stay there again.”  
David looked to John, “Dad, tell him. I have always stayed in your room.”  
“Oh, boy.” John sighed loudly. ‘I should have known this was coming.’ “David, I’m sure that in light of the situation you can find the grace to allow your small, scared younger brother to sleep in my old room. Okay?”  
“I knew it. Defer, always, I have to defer to the cry baby. This isn’t fair I’ve always slept there.” He ranted.  
“DAVID!” John yelled over the commotion. Jade started violently and tears began rolling down his cheeks as he backed away from John. Marcus noted this and moved closer to his young charge. John didn’t seem to notice with his attention focused on his elder son. “Please, David. What did we talk about on the way here? Huh? Help make this situation easier for your grandparents and Jade. Okay? Look at him, he is so scared right now he doesn’t know where to turn. These past weeks are the first time he’s been separated from your mom since the whole Centauri Prime incident, and we had Susan to help us with that. Susan isn’t going to be here very soon.” David, the elder, tried to get Jade to follow him out of the room. Jade would have no part of it and pulled his arm out of David’s hand.   
“You are the only person here that he has been around enough to be completely at ease with you. Don’t you see, he will rely on your judgment here. He’s going to look to you before he does anything just to make certain that it’s okay to do whatever it is he wants to do. Damn it, you have to be the one to tell him its all right, that he needn’t worry about consequences over trivial things, that he’s not going to be hit for a simple question.” Jade listened to the whole rant, and by the time it was finished he was backed into a corner of the hall, and the tears were a constant stream down his face, and he was shaking violently. John noticed this and swore under his breath reprimanding himself. He was about to go to the boy and pick him up again when they heard a shuttle land outside. John’s brow furrowed in confusion for a bit before he figured out it was a shuttle landing.  
“SUSOCHKE!!!” Jade bounded past them and down the stairs. John was just behind him; worried that the boy was running to hide. Jade tripped over the rug on his way through the living room, and hit his face and cut his lip open, but it didn’t seem to slow him down. John was just in time to see the screen door slam behind the small child. Susan was walking briskly toward the house and Jade met her half way.  
“What is it?” She asked as she scooped the trembling body off the ground. Then she noticed his lip was bleeding onto his light colored shirt. “Good God, what the hell happened?!” Jade couldn’t answer for the sobs escaping him. She hadn’t stopped when Jade had met her and was now approaching the porch. John stood at the top of the stairs.  
He reached out for Jade as Susan ascended. “Ah, Jade, I’m sorry I yelled like that. Come here Pal.” Jade was holding fast to Susan his breathing uneven and labored. “Please, let me hold you, Son. I’m really so sorry I scared you.” Jade allowed himself to be taken from his hold mother.  
“I wa, wan, want m, my M, M, Mommy.” He was hyperventilating, and the blood from his lip sprayed a little as he spoke. “I w,wi,wish th,that she was herrrrreeee,” he finished with another sob in the middle of here.  
John soothed his frightened son. “I know, Pal, I know. You miss her and you’re worried and everything is upside down right now, but I promise that I will get her back here as soon as possible.”  
“NO!!! I w, wa, want her NOW!!!! I want my mommy!” Even as he called for his mother Jade held fast to his father. John eventually stopped trying to speak to the boy and just sat on the steps and rocked him until the sobs subsided. Jade still held tightly to him, and he was still hyperventilating, but he was no longer crying, and his lip had stopped bleeding. John decided that was the important thing as he held him and smoothed his hair delicately.

 

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The whole event had lasted about twenty minutes. Susan was worried about Jade, but decided that it was better if she let him have some time with John. She entered the house to find her other favorite Sheridan son crying on Marcus’s shoulder. Seeing this, something finally snapped. “What the hell is going on here!?!?”  
“Tension is running a bit high at the moment. A small problem over sleeping arrangements got blown out of proportion, and feathers were ruffled. It is almost okay now, though.” Marcus replied.  
David, the elder, had listened to the explanation from his spot on the other side of his grandson. His brow was furrowed in confusion. Susan nodded her head in understanding though and stepped over in front of the trio on the couch. David, the elder’s, brow un-furrowed and his eyes widened in astonishment. “Don’t tell me you actually understood that cryptic shenanigans.”  
Susan smiled at him. “Of course I did. I’m married to the guy.” At this statement David nodded and accepted the answer. Susan then sat in front of David, the younger, and encouraged him to look at her. “So how did things get out of hand?”  
David sniffled and answered with an apology. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for things to get crazy, but I don’t know. I feel safer in Dad’s room somehow. I feel closer to him and Mom when I’m in there. I don’t know why. I didn’t mean for it to turn into an argument. I didn’t mean to scare Jade. This is ridiculous. I’m sixteen I shouldn’t be crying like a little kid.”  
“Don’t worry about that part. Everyone cries, even your dad. Believe me, I’ve seen him do it.” She assured at the skeptical look she got from him. “I know you didn’t mean for things to fly off the handle, and at a different time they probably wouldn’t have, but I’ll just bet you that Jade feels the same way about that room as you do. The only time he stayed here was in that room with your mom and dad, remember that. He doesn’t understand what is going on here.   
“All he knows is that he’s having horrible nightmares about your mom and dad, and he hasn’t seen his source of stability, your mother, in over a month. I wish your mom could have come because it really would have made this easier for Jade. I know she wanted to, but duty called. There would have been a benefit from her presence; it helps him to adjust to the unknown things he is experiencing. He still depends on her more than most people, myself included, realize.”  
“I know that, and I really didn’t mean for him to be an issue. We could just share the room, but...” He trailed off and thought about what he wanted to say. “It’s just, everything. We’re here, and all I can think about is Mom. She’s out there somewhere,” he indicated the ceiling meaning space, “and she is fighting against an enemy that wants everyone dead or subjugated, but especially her and dad, and in a little while Dad is going out there to join her as soon as we get settled in here. I’ve been through it before, but I still hate it.”

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Jade’s breath came slow and even; he’d finally calmed down. John thought that he might be asleep. The small body then shifted and Jade turned on John’s lap to face him fully. Jade slid his small arms around John’s torso and buried his face in John’s shoulder.   
“I’m really tired, Dad. Can’t you stay just for tonight? I just know I’ll sleep better if you’re here with me.” His voice cracked as he spoke, and John wished with all his heart that he could stay with his boys, but Delenn and billions of people were counting on him to join the fleet as soon as possible.  
“I really wish that I could, Pal, but I have to get going soon. I can’t stay. You’re in good hands though and I know you’ll be okay.”  
“I don’t want you to go, Dad. I don’t want my dreams to come true. If you go they will come, but if you don’t go then others happen. They’re all scary Dad. I don’t want any of them to come.”  
“Jade, tell me what has you so scared! I know that you’ve been seeing things that are going to happen, but you won’t talk to anyone. The only thing you say about them is what you scream out while you are asleep.” John sat his small son back and gripped his shoulders forcing the boy to look him in the eye, “Tell me what you have seen, now, Jade.”  
Jade’s eyes fell and he took a deep breath to steel himself for the reaction, leaning once more into his father. “I see lots of things, Daddy. I saw the rangers dead, and I saw Susochke all cut and bleeding. I saw David getting beat up, and I was there, and then I saw another time that I wasn’t there with him and he got killed, and I’m so scared that what I saw about you all will happen. I saw you and Mommy and you were in great danger, and then I saw that your Whitestar was damaged and you were lost in Hyperspace, and you never came back. Then I saw that Mommy came and stayed with me here and you didn’t come back and I never see you again.” All this had rushed out like a tidal wave. Jade had spouted all he could on the breath that he had taken in.  
Now he paused and took another breath. “But then I seen where you stay with us and Mommy never comes back to us and then you leave like you said you would and we are alone and I’m scared that you won’t come home. I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want another new Mom and Dad. I like the ones I got right now, just fine. And I’m scared to stay here without you and Mom, and I want to go with you, but if I go with you then David will be in danger because I’m not with him, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to him either. I tried to be not scared when the dreams started again at Susochke and Marcus’s house, but I just kept having them and having them and they never stopped. Every time I went to sleep the pictures and the Dark Men came back.”  
He pulled away for a minute so he could lean back and look into his father’s eyes. “I’m so tired, Daddy. I was never this tired before, not even when I was scared to sleep when I was with him. I want to sleep for just a little while, Daddy, without the dreams that hurt me so much. They do hurt Dad and I try to make them stop like you taught me, but they don’t. And do you know why they hurt me, Daddy?” John shook his head. “They hurt me because the people that I love, and the people that are my family now get hurt in the dreams. That’s why they hurt, Daddy,” he began to cry again, “and I hate ‘em.”  
John squeezed Jade as hard as he could without harming him resting his head on top of Jade’s smaller one. He’d figured that was the reason Jade was having trouble again, but he also knew that Jade speaking of it helped him to calm down. Besides, it was nice to hear that his son cared so much about them all. He held his son like that until he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and looked into the red-rimmed eyes of his older son.

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“Aunt Susan, are you going with my dad and Uncle Marcus?” David, the younger, asked into the silence that had fallen.  
“No, David, why?”  
“Do you think you could stay here for a few days to help Jade get used to it here, and me too?”  
“I had planned on staying here with you guys, and now after meeting the woman I just met I feel I need to stay here.”  
“Why?”  
“Because she reminded me to treasure the moments in life. I don’t think I have nearly enough moments, with you or Jade, to treasure.”  
“Thanks.” He looked at her for a moment, and then he threw his arms around her and hugged her with all his might. Susan returned his embrace not sure quite what to make of the unexpected gesture.  
“Any time.”  
He pulled away and smiled at her. “I think I’ll go apologize to my dad and Jade and set up Dad’s old room as a peace offering. You think it’ll help?”  
“I know it will. Your dad isn’t mad, you know, he is just as stressed out about all this as you and Jade and your mom are. He just hides his stress and worry better than the rest of us. He’s had a lot more practice than most.”  
David didn’t try to answer that and turned on his heel to walk outside. He found his dad sitting on the front steps holding Jade on his lap, and hugging him hard. Jade was still crying, it appeared. David could hear the low keening sobs from his younger brother. He sighed guiltily, thinking he was the cause of the sobs, and walked over to them. He tapped his dad on the shoulder, and when he turned David saw tears drying on his face as well as unshed in his eyes. David had only once before seen his father cry. It had been when he and his mother had told him of his father’s limited lifespan. David’s father had broken down at the look in his young son’s eyes. David had rushed to comfort him, just as he did now. “I’m sorry, Dad. Things got out of hand, and its my fault. I shouldn’t have made that big a deal out of it, and I’m sorry I did. I guess that I kinda reverted to a kid again for a minute.”  
“It’s really all right, David. Jade and I talked about that, and he wasn’t really scared because of that. He’s got other things that have been bothering him for a while now and it appears that he’s been bottling everything in so as not to worry anyone. That’s what is really wrong here. Our argument just kinda opened the door for all that to crash through, and make itself known.”  
“Maybe, but I still want to make it up to him, and I want him to stay in your old room. I know that doesn’t make up for it completely, but I figure it’s as good a start as any.”  
A small, shaky voice lifted from John’s shoulder. “Thanks David, but you don’t hafta be sorry. It’s my fault. I shoulda let you have the room. You’ve been staying here a lot longer than me and you have a right to it. I’ll find a different one.”  
“Nah, that’s okay, its getting kinda small for me anyway. I’ll stay in Aunt Lizie’s old room it’s bigger than Dad’s.”  
“Are you sure, David?”  
“Of course.” Jade nodded and held his arms out to his big brother. David lifted him off of John’s lap and hugged him. John sighed, comforted that Jade had shown faith in David and was reassured that, even after Susan was called away, he would be okay staying with David near at hand.

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David, the elder, excused himself from Susan and Marcus’s presence under the pretense that he should go and call his wife to inform her of the boys’ arrival, leaving them alone in the living room.  
“Be careful out there, my Ranger.” She reached for him, and he pulled her into an embrace.  
“Don’t worry. I fully intend to come back to this great lady I married a while back. She’s a real woman of your dreams kind of girl.” Susan laughed softly for a moment, then playfully slapped his arm.  
“I’m being serious here. Don’t take any unnecessary risks.”  
“Sorry, Love, I know you’re being quite solemn. Down right somber if you ask me.” His British accent complimented the witticism he used, and this time he succeeded in lifting her mood.  
“You’re incorrigible, and a flirt.”  
“Why, thank you, I thought you’d never notice.”   
She sighed and gave up trying to be serious. Then remembered the albums in her bag. “Damn, I forgot something back on the shuttle,” she pulled out of his arms just as he was about to kiss her, and walked toward the door then turned back and kissed him quickly once. “Hold that thought. Be right back.” With that she was out the door. She jumped off the porch right passed John and his boys.   
“Where are you going so fast?” John tossed after her.  
“You’ll see, go inside, and I’ll show you.” She tossed back.  
John shrugged and looked over at David. “Well?”  
His older son shrugged back. “It’s Aunt Susan. Lets go in and wait to see what she’s got.” They stood, John not relinquishing Jade to walk on his own, and entered the house.

********************************B5***************************

Susan returned to the house and found a confused bunch of guys waiting for her. “I was on the link canceling my meetings for today when my aide showed a young woman into my office. She stated that she’d known Jade’s family and had a piece of it’s history for him. She knew enough that I am inclined to believe she is who she says she is; a friend of Jade’s former mother.” John looked at her aghast.  
“Who was she?”   
“She said that her name was Allana Dara. She handed me these and talked a bit about how she knew Jade’s mother, and why the things that happened, happened. Then I said I had to be somewhere, she invited me to contact her if I needed to know anything, and left my office.” Susan paused to breathe.  
She also showed an interest in seeing Jade; she said to make sure her friend’s son was safe. After that I was too busy trying to get here before you left to worry about anything else.” She pulled out the albums and handed one to John. “She said that those three hold pictures of the first three years of Jade’s life, and this one,” she held up the fourth, “is a collection of pictures of his family members. His mother and father knew what was about to happen to them and wanted something left for their children should they survive.” She held out one album toward John.

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John looked at the bound leather cover of the album she held out to him, debating whether or not he wanted to see the faces of Jade’s dreams. Finally, at a prod from the small boy on his lap, he accepted the album. He hadn’t thought about Jade and that he might want to see them too. He pulled it to himself and Jade, as his son scooted back on his lap to snuggle against him. Once his son was settled he thumbed the book open. The first picture was a family portrait of a three year old Jade sitting in his father’s lap beside his mother who held a newborn in her arms. He noted that the smiles on Jade’s and his father’s face were almost identical, and a corner of his mouth turned up at the sight. When he couldn’t bring himself to turn to the second and third pages he closed the album.  
“What’s the matter, Daddy?” Jade looked up at him inquisitively.  
John smiled down at his son. “Nothing. I just decided I wanted to wait to look at all these until your mom is here to look too.”  
“Look, John, why don’t you take the albums with you, they’ll be a nice surprise for Delenn.”  
“You haven’t looked at them?”  
“Not yet, like I said, I was a little distracted. I figure I’ll make copies of the pictures that I wanted and let you guys keep the originals. They are Jade’s after all. That’s what Ms. Dara said.”  
“Are you sure Susan? She brought them to you.”  
“Only because I was the one looking for information on Jade’s past for you. She found me because I requested his birth records from the hospital where she works.”  
“Tell you what,--”  
“No, don’t tell me what. Take them and look at them during a lull in the fighting and with Jade’s mom. She needs something like this to help her through the trials ahead. I’ll get the chance to see them later on.” John nodded, and accepted the other albums from her.  
“I better get you two settled. Marcus and I need to be on our way.” Jade sniffled and his body went rigid. John wrapped him in a hug and rocked from side to side.  
“Tell Mom that I miss her, and tell her to come home to us safe.” His voice was miniscule.  
“I will, Jade. Lets go get your bags into your rooms guys.”  
David and Jade both nodded and headed up the stairs. John followed slowly, taking the time to really look at all the framed photos on the walls of the stairway. There were montages of school pictures of both Liz and himself. There were family photos taken at different times throughout his and Liz’s life with their parents. Then there were photos of his parents and Liz after he’d moved out on his own. Still others were of just his parents after they both had grown up. Even more in the upstairs hallway, some were individual portraits of John and Delenn and Liz and Danny. There were some of his parents and Liz and Danny’s boys, one of his parents and David, and another of them with Stevie, Matt and Jessie, one of them with David and Jade, and the newest was of them, Liz, Stevie, and his newborn daughter, Anna. John smiled at that picture, he’d been honored by the fact that Stevie remembered his Aunt well enough to want to name his child after her. She’d loved Lizie’s boys with her whole heart while waiting to have children of her own.   
John almost, but not quite regretted not having a child with Anna. They’d both wanted them, but it hadn’t seemed right to have a child that, nine months or more of the year, he wouldn’t see. Then, considering how things had turned out, he was glad that a child hadn’t been put through everything he’d endured dealing with his second wife’s death and reappearance. He knew that his mother kept the wedding photos of himself and Anna in their room and one of him and Lochley in one of the albums.  
“Hey, Dad, are you coming?” A small voice brought him out of his memories and not quite regrets, and he turned and walked to Jade’s side and helped him unpack the clothes and things they’d brought from Susan and Marcus’s.  
“Thanks Dad.” He looked at his father solemnly. “You hafta go now, don’t you?” The small voice was shaky.  
John nodded, “Yeah, buddy it’s time for Marcus and me to head out. Come here.” He held his arms out and Jade walked slowly over. John lifted him onto his leg as he sat on the bed. As Jade perched on his knee John reached into a pocket and pulled out a data crystal. “Here. The message your mom sent is on this crystal. You can watch it whenever you are ready.”  
Jade took the crystal almost with reverence. “I’ll watch it later, Dad. Before you go, do you think you could help me go to sleep.” John started to protest. “I know it’s the middle of the day Dad, but it’s hard to go to sleep by myself, and maybe if you help me I’ll sleep better.”  
“Okay. Get yourself settled in the bed.” Jade scooted off John’s lap to lie down on his tummy.   
“Wait! I need my bear.” Jade sat up abruptly.  
John stood and retrieved the stupid thing. He still didn’t know why he’d kept it when he’d spotted it in that Loort market a few years back, and he chuckled at the memory of spacing the first one he’d seen. He handed it to Jade as he slid back to lean against the wall and rubbed Jade’s back soothingly. Before long Jade had moved his head over into John’s lap, and clutched the Ba’bear’lon 5 bear tightly to himself. John sat there for fifteen minutes before Jade drifted off saying, “Thank you, Daddy.” His voice faded a little further into sleep with each word. John smiled and settled his small son more comfortably on the bed and draped a blanket over him.  
“Sleep well, my son. Don’t dream.” He slid a finger down his son’s face from his forehead to his chin and then tenderly kissed the top of the boy’s head. Then he turned and walked out of the room.

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Downstairs, Marcus and Susan sat on the couch together, speaking to David and the newly arrived Nancy Sheridan. As John entered the room, Nancy stood to hug her son. “Hey, Mom. Jade’s asleep upstairs in my old room. Don’t bother him if you don’t have to. Susan will be here to help out for a while too, so don’t worry too much.”  
“We’ll be fine, son. Don’t you worry.” John smiled at her.  
“Thanks a lot, Mom. Delenn and I really do appreciate all the things that you’re doing to help out.”  
“They’re our grandsons, Johnny. We aren’t doing it just to help. We’re doing it because we want to see them.”  
“Gramma!” David came bounding down the stairs. Nancy let her son go and pulled her grandson into her arms.   
“It’s so good to see you.”  
John stepped away from them and over to Marcus. “We better get going, Marcus. We’ve been here way too long already.” He said as he lifted the albums off of the table.  
“Lets get to it, then.” He stood with Susan and David, the elder. They followed John out to the waiting ground car. Susan and Marcus embraced and kissed a last lingering kiss, they parted and Marcus boarded the ship. John hugged his parents and Susan, and turned to David.  
“Take care of Jade and your grandparents for me, and go visit your aunt.” He pulled the second data crystal. “This is from your mom.”  
David accepted and pocketed the crystal. “We will, Dad. Tell Mom I miss her. Thanks for not sending any tutors for us.”  
“Oh, don’t thank me yet. You were right about Shal Mayan. She’s here on Earth and your mom asked her to drop in before she leaves to give you guys some lessons on how to write Ti’Lar.”  
“Cool. Aunt Mayan never makes me work hard. Jade’s gonna like her.” David then became serious. “You be careful, Dad. Watch out for Mom, and Uncle Marcus.”  
“I will, on all counts.” He hugged his son again and got in the car. He turned and waved as they drove off. David, the younger stood with his aunt Susan and they watched two of the most important people in their lives head off into a murky future.

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“This stinks.” David said upon reentering the house.  
“I’ll agree with that.” Susan rejoined. “Look, I’m going up to sit with Jade. You gonna be okay down here?”  
“Yeah, I can catch up on stuff with Grampa and Gramma.”  
“Okay.” She nodded toward John’s parents and ascended the stairs. She went to John’s room and found Jade curled around himself and a conspicuously familiar bear, with the initials J. S. on it’s shirt, on the bed. His sleep looked placid enough, but she knew that could change at any moment. She crawled in next to him and let herself drift and remember times past: the first time she’d seen Marcus, helping Delenn cope with her new physiology, playing baseball against John on Io, and at least a hundred other memories that, she realized, may be the only memories she would have of them. Jade eventually curled closer to her as he slept, and she found herself playing with his hair while she thought of the past. She finally came out of her memories to find two small grayish blue eyes watching her. “Hi there. Sleep good?”  
“Yeah, finally. Dad left, huh?” He asked in a quiet voice.  
“Yes, he and Marcus are on their way to meet your Mom.”  
“She sent me a message, you know.”  
“Yeah, your dad mentioned something about it.”  
Jade nodded his small head. “Do you think I should watch it now, or should I wait ‘til later?”  
“What do you want to do?”  
“I wanna watch it. I guess.”  
“You guess.” Again the nod.  
“Where is it, and I’ll put it on for you?”  
Jade held out his left hand, palm up and open. The data crystal that John had given him was cupped in the middle of his palm.  
“You’ve been holding that this whole time?” Jade nodded as Susan took it and stood. She walked over to a reader and checked it to make sure it worked and was hooked up properly. When she surmised that all was satisfactory she played the message.

********************************B5***************************

 

Delenn’s face consumed the screen. “Hello, my little one. I am sorry I didn’t get to come and take you to your grandparent’s home. I have been called away, and I am sending this to you in hopes that it will help you sleep. You can make a copy of the songs so that you can listen to it at night before you go to sleep, and know that I am thinking of you.”  
Jade watched his mother’s face as she sang the Song Of Valen for him. She looked peaceful as she sang. Her eyes fell closed and she looked like he remembered she always looked when singing this song to him. When she finished she opened her eyes and didn’t speak for a moment, and another song played. The song was I’ll Be, a song that John had played for her saying that it reminded him of the struggles he and she had gone through during their courtship. There were more following it, some were in Minbari and some were from Earth, but all of them were soft and soothing. When they had ended and she did speak her voice was filled with emotion.  
“The second song was one that your dad played for me a very long time ago. I know that by now your dad has told you that we are going into danger, and if things go badly we may be separated by death. If that should come to pass I want you to know that I will be with you until we see each other again in the Place Where No Shadows Fall. I want you to know that I love you very much, my son, and that you will be taken care of until I see you once more, no matter how much time passes in between. Rest easy, and try not to worry too much. I’ll see you as soon as I can.” She reached out to the screen and ran her index finger down the middle of it. Jade stood and did the same as her image froze on screen. His tiny finger ran from just between her eyes, down to the tip of her nose. He then turned and faced his hold-mother.   
“Could you help me make a recording of the songs?” He asked her as he walked back to the bed and climbed in, laying his head in her lap.  
“Of course I can, Dushenka.” He smiled and yawned.

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David sat with his grandparents, talking softly about things of little concern. David, the elder, had decided that things had been serious enough. Susan and Jade came down a while later. Jade looked much better than when they’d arrived, David noted, less pale. “Well, Grandson, looks like you slept well.”  
Jade nodded and sat beside his brother, on the floor. David put an arm around Jade’s shoulders and said, “Guess what?”  
“What, David?”  
“Dad said that Aunt Mayan is going to come and teach us a little of her art, and that’s all the lessons we’ll have until they get home. Pretty cool, huh?”  
“Yeah, cool, David.” His voice was something less than enthusiastic. “I think I’d rather have them here and hafta do lessons.”  
“Hey, thinking about Mom?” He got a nod. “Well, don’t worry. Everything will be fine. I think that we need to go and do something to take your mind off of everything. How about a horse ride?”  
Jade’s face lit up like a meditation candle. “Yeah, I’d love to go for a ride. Wanna come, Susochke?”  
“Oh, no I think I’ll pass and stay here to help your grandmamma with dinner. Why don’t you take your grampa instead?”  
Jade seemed a little indecisive for a bit, but Susan watched him make up his mind. “Okay. Come on, Grampa. We’ll ride Moon and David can ride his horse.”  
“You sure you want me to ride with you, son?”  
“Yeah, I wanna ride, but I don’t wanna ride alone, and I don’t wanna get scared to death because David likes to jump stuff. Dad said so, and I don’t think I’m ready for jumping horses just yet.”

 

********************************B5***************************

Jade sat comfortably, but stiffly on the saddle in front of his grandfather, and watched as his brother demonstrated his skills on horseback. David, the elder, sensed the stiffness of his new grandson’s posture. “Is anything wrong, Jade?”  
“No.” He answered a little too quickly. David felt that it was safe to press a little harder and asked again if there was anything bothering Jade.  
“You don’t have to be scared. I won’t be mad or feel hurt if you don’t want to ride with me.”  
“It’s not that, Grampa, I trust you, even if I’m still a little scared. It’s just, well, I miss Mommy. Daddy gave me her message and it helped some, but I wanna see her. I get more afraid everyday that she and Dad won’t come back. That what happens in my dreams will happen for real. I talked to my dad about it, but it didn’t help too much. He did help me sleep, but I want to see Mommy, and I want her to hold me and rock me and make all the bad stuff go away.”  
“I know how you feel. Believe it or not, but Davy used to be the same way. He would stay here for a few days too long and he’d be crying like a baby to go home.”  
Jade looked up and back at him in disbelief. “No way.”  
“Oh, yes, it’s true. He would get homesick just like you are now.”  
“I really do want to go home, but I want my mommy and my daddy to be there.”  
“Try not to worry to much, son. Things will work out the way they are supposed to in the end.”  
“But that’s what I’m afraid of. What if things are supposed to work out that I don’t have a mommy and daddy ever. My first mommy and daddy left me. What if I’m just not supposed to have a mommy or daddy?” His eyes were wary and full of questions.  
“I don’t think that the universe could ever be that cruel. Especially not to you, son. In the time I have known you the only thing that you have been is kind and giving, if a little scared, but you have good reasons, and you, by all rights, should have learned to be what that man wanted you to be. Most children would have molded to his wishes, but you were strong enough mentally to fight him off and stay true to what you believed was right.”  
“I knew that what he did was wrong. I didn’t want to be like him. I want to be like my daddy now.” He was silent for a moment. “You know what he tolded me once?”  
“Told, and no I don’t.”  
“He said that Minbari are ugly and that they should all die. I think that’s very wrong. I like the way that Mommy and her people look, and the ones that I have met so far are all very nice. I was scared of Sech Turval, but only because he was too serious. I was afraid that I would get in trouble if I talked too much.”   
David didn’t know what to say to Jade’s admission, so he ventured to snake an arm around Jade’s shoulders and hug him closer. He was startled but happy when Jade put both his small hands on his forearm and leaned back against him. “Everything will work out, Jade. Even if bad things happen they happen for a reason. Sometimes its a test to see how we’ll handle it, and then other times when we need a reminder that not all things in this life are good things, but I think you’ve probably learned that lesson quite well.”  
Jade nodded, and relaxed against his grandfather.

********************************B5***************************

“I hope you don’t mind that I decided to stay here. I know it’s a bit forward of me.” Susan watched as Nancy made an unreadable face while working on dinner, “okay, a lot forward of me, but I felt that it would be easier for Jade of I were here.”  
Nancy looked up from chopping a tomato to put in the salad. “Don’t be silly, Susan. You and Marcus are an extension of our family, and you are always welcome, and I am grateful that you can help with Jade. I am so nervous around that little boy. I’m afraid I’ll say the wrong thing, or do the wrong thing. After the last visit, and all the incidents, I don’t want him to be startled by us. I feel like I have to tread lightly.”  
“He’ll be fine. He hasn’t had one of those episodes in more than two months now. I think he’s finally coming out of his shell, but I know how you feel. I sometimes think that he’d be better off if he were with a low profile family. A family out of the spotlight, like some of his friend’s families. Then I see how much he relies on Delenn and John and how happy he is with them, and I know that he doesn’t belong with anyone else. He was meant to be their son. He’s already adopted their mannerisms for crying out loud.” She smiled a little remembering Jade’s reactions, and how they reminded her of John.  
“What do you mean, he’s adopted their mannerisms?”  
“Well, he was upset about a week ago and he was pacing the floor just like John does. Oh, and the most noticeable one, is after he wakes up from a nightmare and his hands, particularly his right hand, clench into little balls. Delenn has that habit when she is worried or upset by something.”  
“I’d never noticed that. I knew John paced. He always has ever since he was a little boy, but I never noticed Delenn clench her hands.”  
“She does, he even clenches that cute little jaw, like John, when he’s angry. I’m sorry to admit that he’s adopted some of mine too. He has the same death glare that I do when he’s been annoyed.” She smiled to know that her Dushenka was carrying a part of her around too. “I still really appreciate that you don’t mind my staying here. Before I forget, I should tell you that if, after I’m gone, you have any problems you can contact Matthew Gideon or his wife Elizabeth Lochley. Their son is Jade’s best friend and has, in my experience, always had a calming influence on Jade’s nerves.”  
“Elizabeth finally got remarried then. That’s good, and it’s nice to hear that she has herself a child. She always looked like the type who wanted children.”  
“John told me that they were married for a short time a long time ago, but I didn’t know that you knew her so well.”  
“Oh, yes. I adored her, but I knew that the marriage wouldn’t last, oh, I hoped for the best, but they were too alike for that. I’d love to see her again just to see how that young idealistic command presence turned out.”  
“She definitely has that presence. Give them a call sometime, I’m sure that the boys would be extremely happy to spend time together.”


	11. Chapter 11

********************************B5***************************

The intervening two weeks had been a tiring affair for John and Marcus; trying to catch up with Delenn’s advance fleet, skirmishes with the Drakh ships left at battle sites incapable of Hyperspace travel, but with their fighting teeth still intact.   
Finally, though, John’s Whitestar caught up with the fleet. Marcus took command of the ship from John, who took a shuttle to the Minbari Cruiser where Delenn had set up a command center. She stood waiting for him as he disembarked.  
He took one look at her and saw the effects of the constant battles. Her face was pinched, her shoulders hunched, and she looked like she hadn’t slept since the last night he’d seen her almost three weeks before. He went to her and enfolded her in a comforting embrace.   
Seeing that he too looked tense and exhausted. Delenn buried herself against her husband and sighed, letting some of the pent up tension escape with her breath, and hoped that he was as comforted by her presence as she was by his. “Thank Valen you finally arrived.” She let him steer her out of the shuttle bay toward the crew quarters.  
“What’s the most recent news, Delenn?” He asked, hoping that nothing pressing was in the works. He wanted some time to make sure she rested for at least ten hours.  
“Nothing at the moment. We are awaiting the Drakh’s next maneuver. It will be quiet for a few days at least.”  
“Good. You need rest, and I intend to make sure you get that rest. Besides I have a surprise for you that Susan was kind enough to appropriate for us.”  
Her curiosity peaked, “What is it?”  
“Susan has, since she got back to Earth, been looking for information on Jade and his family. I’ll show you what I have when we get to our quarters and after you’ve eaten.

 

********************************B5***************************

Delenn sat calmly on the couch having just finished the first complete meal she’d been able to eat in days. John entered the room from the left coming from the bedroom where he’d already stowed his gear. He carried four large albums. Delenn, tired though she was, straightened in anticipation. He walked to her side and sat down. “Susan gave these to me the afternoon that I left Earth. She said that she got them from a woman that knew Jade’s parents. I couldn’t bring myself to look through them beyond the first picture in this one.” He indicated the album he’d started to look through at his parents' home. I wanted to look through it, with you and Jade, but Susan suggested that I bring them with me and we take a little while away from all the stress to see our son’s first few years. I decided she was right and that we’d need the break from the fighting. So I brought them. Here’s the earliest of them.” He handed her the album with an inscription on the front cover. It read, “Our son’s first photos.”  
She opened it as he sat beside her. The first photo was obviously taken in a delivery room. A newborn infant still dirty from birth was lying in a woman’s arms. His small mouth was wide open, his face pinched with his wailing, and his mother smiled down at her son. The next photo was an official hospital photo, and under the photo was the caption. Jade Adam Mason, six pounds and seven ounces, eighteen inches long, born on November 13, 2272.  
“John, this is wonderful. We will have to find a suitable way to thank Susan.”  
“I think we already have, Delenn, we named him after her brother. His middle name we chose because we didn’t know if he had one, if he did we didn’t know what it was, and we chose Ganya.”  
“Yes, we did, but now that we know, should we change it back?”  
“No, I like his name, and I think he is fond of it.” She smiled at him and they went back to the photos.  
There were more of him as a newborn; his first day home, his first smile, the first time he rolled over on his own, and other important firsts. In the middle of the album were photos of him sitting up on his own and learning to crawl. On the last few pages of the album there were photos of his pulling up on his own and his first tooth. The album ended with pictures of his first birthday party. Delenn and John laughed at his cake covered face and hands. Jade’s features became more and more prominent as the photos progressed.  
“These are absolutely priceless, John.” Her demeanor changed as she leaned against him. “I miss both him and David so much, John.”  
“I know. I do too. Hey, I finally got him to talk to me about his dreams. He has been holding in all the emotions they are causing. He didn’t want to worry anyone. They are really bad, Delenn. He is scared to do anything for fear that he will cause one of the worst scenarios to take place. He sees it like everyone’s fate depends upon the path he, himself chooses. That’s what it sounded like to me. He sees it that way, and it’s not that way at all. The way I see it we all have a part in this instance. It hinges on our decisions as a whole for the result to be something that we all survive through.”  
“John, it is like the time rift and all that you saw there in. We don’t have enough information to make anything of it. So we should not try to follow whatever path that he has seen, anyone who has ever tried to live by someone else’s vision has ended up miserable. You have to follow your path, I have to follow mine, Susan has to follow hers, and our sons have to follow theirs and we all have to do what seems right for us to be doing. Just don’t worry about it too much. Let’s finish looking at these pictures of our small, sweet son.” She rested her fingers on the back of his neck, rubbing and massaging the tension she felt there. He sighed long and hard and turned to kiss her softly.  
“I think that is a good idea.” He pulled the second album into their laps and draped his arm around his wife while she leaned into him. This album showed a toddling Jade with a drooling, four-toothed grin as he dumped flour out of a sack and onto himself and the floor, as he took his first steps, in a small swimming pool being held by his father, at what appeared to be a Christmas ceremony in his mother’s arms. Then there were pictures of his second birthday party. He wasn’t quite as messy this time, and Delenn recognized Bishop in the back ground of a few of the pictures. She brought them to John’s attention and they decided that it was better to leave them where they were for now, but it was lucky that he had wanted to wait for Delenn before he looked through the albums, so that they could prepare Jade for what he’d see. The two of them sat there looking over the photos for a long time, neither had really paid attention to the passage of time. Some of the pictures made them laugh and some made them cry.   
The most poignant for Delenn had been a picture of three year old Jade sitting in his mother’s arms he’d obviously fallen and hurt himself. There was a multicolored Band-Aid on his chin, and huge tears dripping off his face. He was watching his mother make a goofy face and laughing even as the huge ‘alligator tears,’ as John had called them, were running down his cheeks. The chubby face showed a war between mirth and sorrow and pain, and the caption had been, ‘My Big Owwie.’ She had cried upon reading the caption because it had been the worst thing her baby had been through, and to look at him now it seemed insignificant.  
The photo that had taken hold of John’s heart was of a baby, single lower, front-toothed Jade in a stroller with a tiny baseball cap on his equally tiny head, and a mock uniform on his chubby, infant body. He held in his small hands a baseball that appeared to be well chewed, in the light of the photo John could see the baby drool on, not only the ball, but also Jade’s tiny chin, as the baby gave an open mouthed smile. The background of the picture had been at the new Dodger Stadium where he’d gone to watch games many times. He’d even taken David there to see his first real baseball game. At the image of his little boy, at a place he’d been more times than he could count, on a day that he was most likely there again, with people he’d never know as his family, had just been too much for John to take. He’d had to stop and he and Delenn had taken a walk to calm down again, both holding onto the other for support and comfort. They soon returned to their quarters and finished looking through the albums, and turned in for the night. Both getting the rest that had eluded them since parting from each other three weeks earlier.

********************************B5***************************

David Sheridan, the younger, woke early to the call of a rooster. He was getting used to being on the farm after two and a half weeks, but the sounds were still enough of a deviance from the silence at home to wake him. He sighed and rolled over trying to get back to sleep. He had just drifted off when he heard through the wall a panicked, “Jade! What the Hell?! JADE!!”  
He was up and out of bed like a shot and went to the room that Susan and Jade were sleeping in. He knocked then entered, “What’s going on Aunt Susan?”  
“I woke up and Jade isn’t here. Help me find him?” Her voice was calm, but David knew her well enough to know that she was worried.  
“Sure, he’s probably in the bathroom, I’ll check.” He left the room and walked to the end of the hall where stood the empty bathroom. He returned, just as a now fully dressed, Susan Ivanova exited the room. “He’s not there. I’ll check Gramma and Grampa’s room, but ten credits says that he’s not in there.” He left again, and Susan turned and went down stairs. Nancy Sheridan, always the first in the house to rise out of bed, was in the kitchen reading the early edition of Universe Today. She looked up as Susan entered.   
“Is something wrong?”  
“Jade’s disappeared. I woke up around four this morning and went to relieve myself, and he was there, sleeping more peacefully than in the last month and a half, when I got back in bed. When I woke up a few minutes ago he was gone.”  
“Calm down, Susan, calm down. He showed up in David’s and my room just as I was getting dressed, and I put him back to sleep and left him in there with his grandfather. It’s the funniest thing, the poor boy was searching for a glass of milk, and he was still so far asleep that he thought I was his mama.”  
Susan sighed in relief that he was all right. “Thank God, I thought that he’d taken off, or that some how PsiCorps had gotten him. I don’t think I am cut out to be a full time parent.”  
“Oh, please, you’re doing a much better job with him than I am. Granted he’s known and trusted you longer, but still I don’t think I’m all that bad.”  
“You’re not, I think he just has a full plate right now. If it helps he really is warming up to you, and David. He enjoyed your bedtime story immensely last night. He told me so before he fell asleep.”  
“I’m glad he liked it. That story was always John’s favorite. I guess it figures that his son, who idolizes his father as much as Jade does, would like it too.” She smiled at the now sitting Susan. “Why don’t you go back to bed, Hon, David won’t get up for at least another hour, and Jade looked like a little log when I checked on them a while ago.”  
David, the younger came down at that moment interrupting Susan’s reply, “He’s out like a light in Gramma and Grampa’s bed. Can you believe it?”  
“Yes, your Grandmother just told me that he’d come in there earlier this morning looking for a glass of milk.” She turned back to Nancy, “I don’t think I’ll even bother trying to sleep anymore. After a scare like that one it’s better to stay up.”  
“I’d love to go back to sleep, but that stupid bird out there keeps crowing, I give up and I’m going to get dressed.” He turned back and ascended the stairs to his room. He looked longingly at the bed for a moment before making it up and getting dressed. He then went back to join his grandmother and aunt in the kitchen. “Are you going to work today, Aunt Susan? I know you haven’t been there for a while, don’t you need to check in or something?”   
“No, not really. I have enough vacation time saved up to cover just about anything, but I am going to head over there again and see where the senate is on the decision to let me join your Mom and Dad. I’ll probably be gone all day, and I think that its time I left so that Jade can get better adjusted to my absence.”

 

********************************B5***************************

David woke up with a small warm body next to his own. He was taken slightly aback because his wife was usually up way before he woke. Then he realized that it wasn’t Nancy beside him. The form was much too small and rarely did his wife curl into a tiny ball at his side. He looked down to find his youngest grandson curled up next to him and trembling for all he was worth. David reached out and put a gentle hand on the small shoulder. Jade’s small form twitched at the contact, and his eyes popped open. David saw panic in his sleepy gaze.   
“Wake up, Jade, you’re safe.” Two small arms slipped around him and a small head buried itself in his side, and all too soon he felt the wet tears as his grandson cried into his side. David felt a great weight lift from his chest as he realized Jade was seeking his comfort. David rested his withered old hand on his grandson’s head and stroked the dark hair soothingly. “It’ll be all right, son. I’m here and your Grandma’s here, and even Susan. We’re okay, and your Mama and Daddy are okay. Are you okay, son?”  
Jade looked up and nodded to him. “I’ll go get dressed now Grampa. See ya later.”  
Jade trudged from the room. David rose and shook his head in dismay. The boy confused him to no end. He’d sought comfort, but taken little. “Oh, well, what did I expect from him?” He wondered aloud.  
“From who, Dad?” David started and turned to find his daughter standing in the door.  
“Hi there.” He smiled and donned his robe. He then walked over and embraced her. “Where did you come from?”

 

********************************B5***************************

Susan sat reading sections of the morning edition of Universe Today as Nancy discarded them. Across the table from her the older woman sat reading her own section, and David sat eating a bowl of cereal having decided he didn’t want to wait for his brother and grandfather to wake before he ate. There came a quiet knock at the back door, and Nancy rose to answer it. In the open door stood Liz and her now nine year old daughter Jessie.  
David stood and hurried to them. “Aunt Liz!”   
“How have you been, young man?” She gathered him to her in a hug.  
“Pretty good, considering.” He answered returning her hug.  
“I know, Davy, that’s why I’m here. I have decided that we all need to go into town and have some fun.”  
“Sounds good to me. Oh, uh this is Susan Ivanova. I don’t know if you have met or not.”  
“Yeah, we met once a long time ago, and then again at your party, remember, and she was here for a while when your mom and dad came to introduce us all to Jade.” Susan informed him.   
“Oh, yeah.”  
“How is it that you’re here now though?”  
“I’m Jade’s hold-mother, and I’m here to help him out with the transitional phase.”  
“Good idea. How is he doing?” She asked looking around.  
“Better than I expected, he has warmed considerably to David and Nancy since last week. Actually, I think my work here with him is just about finished.”  
“Good to know, I guess I should go and wake Dad.”  
Nancy looked up from her conversation with her granddaughter, “Go on then, but try not to wake Jade.”  
Liz looked skeptical, “Do you mean to tell me that he actually slept in the room with you and Dad?” Her skepticism came from the knowledge that none of the other children had slept there.  
“No, he came in this morning when I was getting up, and I got him a drink and put him back to sleep and left him with your father.”  
“Ah, well I’ll just go and wake Dad now.” She turned and ascended the stairs. She met Jade as he shambled toward the room he and Susan were staying in. The look on his face was one of despair, and he didn’t look well to Liz. He was drawn and pale with fatigue. “Hi there, Jade. It’s good to see you.” He looked up at her slowly and she saw tears in his eyes. “Is everything all right? Anything I can help with?”  
He shook his head no. “I just wanna get dressed and go find Susochke.”  
“Okay, I guess I’ll see you downstairs later then.” He nodded and sidled past her. She shook her head and sighed in defeat as she headed for her father’s room. The door was open slightly so she pushed it the rest of the way.  
Her father stood in his pajamas and it was apparent that he had just risen from bed. “......Did I expect from him?” She smiled at his characteristic self-questioning technique.  
“From who, Dad?” He spun around and there was his little Lizzie.  
“Hi there,” He slipped into his robe, “where did you come from?”  
“Oh, around. Jessie and I decided to come and see if the boys and Mom might want to go into town with us. You’re welcome to join if you want. I wonder if the boys will want to go though. Jade seemed out of sorts when I saw him a minute ago.”  
“He had another nightmare when I woke him just a few minutes ago. I tried to comfort him and he seemed to accept it at first, but then he pushed me away again.”  
“Well, Dad, we can’t expect too much too soon. He may seem okay when he’s with John and Delenn, like you said he seemed when you went to Minbar, but he was in comfortable surroundings and his security net was present. He really needs Delenn around to help him figure out the right way to handle new and not entirely pleasant emotions.”  
“I don’t think it’s that so much as he’s scared to move lest one of his dreams comes true.”  
“What do you mean, because he’s a telepath or something else?” Her brow was furrowed with curiosity.  
“Yeah, because he’s a telepath. Susan has spoken to both your mother and I. Jade is having opposing premonitions. She said that its like fate is showing him all these endings for the struggles out there right now, but it won’t show any of the paths to find the right endings. Some of the endings aren’t whole either. Its very distressing for him, and he only sleeps a few short hours a night.”  
“That’s why he looks so pale and tired.”  
“Yeah, and none of us know what to do about it.” 

 

********************************B5***************************

Jade entered the room and went to the closet. He opened the door, noting the small creak of the hinges as the door swung wide. He reached in and pulled out a jumpsuit from home and proceeded to get dressed. He pulled on some socks and was in the middle of trying to tie his shoe when the vision started.

Delenn stood at the controls of the Whitestar and worked furiously to correct for the damaged left thruster. John had abandoned the command chair for a separate console. It’s former operator lay, bleeding a few feet in front of the console. John checked the damage reports again, and was disheartened to note that the forward batteries were inoperative. He looked up to the forward view and saw that another squadron of Drakh fighters were heading for them.  
“Delenn, here comes the next wave. Get ready for impact. How are you coming with the thrusters?”  
“Not good, John. I can only give you twenty percent on the port thruster. Starboard is still fully operative, but if we fire it at full and the other as is we will begin to spin.”  
“Then don’t fire it at full. Equalize them and get us moving. I am going to open a jump point, and we’re getting out of here. Montoya and the others will just have to wait until we make repairs.”  
“Working on it.” There were tense minutes of silence and then Delenn announced, “That should do it. We are moving.”  
“Good work.” John ran his hand over the crystal controls and listened to the singsong as his orders were carried out. The ship began moving forward. He skimmed another control and the familiar orange-brown Jump point opened in front of them. The fighters followed, gaining ground on the injured Whitestar. They entered the jump point behind them and began firing again. John waited just long enough for the Whitestar to get through the point and then forcibly collapsed it.   
The Drakh ships were caught and destroyed, but not before they took out the other thruster and disabled communications by targeting and destroying the array. John checked reports again not believing what he was seeing. “Delenn, reports coming in now say that we have no thrusters. Is that true?”  
“I am afraid so, John. It appears that we are dead in space, or Hyperspace.”

Jade fought against the visions and dropped the shoe as he tried to cover his eyes with both hands while keeping his breathing deep and slow. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but he knew that he had never experienced one of the visions while awake. As the vision progressed it became harder to calm himself and his breathing increased and he began to let out soft moans of fear. As soon as the vision ended he ran for the stairs and Susan.   
The alternate feeling of the stairs on his bare foot and the shoe on his other barely registered before he found the kitchen and Susan. He tripped over the untied shoe strings and fell as he reached the tile floor. Fortunately he caught himself before his face connected. His lip was almost healed from his tripping over the rug in the living room, and he didn’t want to worry Susan by hurting it again.

 

********************************B5***************************

Susan looked up as she heard the pounding of feet running down the stairs. She was shocked by Jade’s terrified appearance and his spill onto the floor. To her relief he picked himself up and ran to her. She noted the look on his face as he ran across the room toward her. She dropped the paper and scooped him into her arms.  
“We gotta call Mommy! We gotta keep ‘em from going Susochke! It’s there that they get in danger! We can’t let ‘em go there! Call Mommy and Daddy! Don’t let ‘em get hurt! They’re gonna be lost!” He stopped to take a short breath and began to cough.  
“Jade, calm down. Jade!” She tried to get his attention. “What are you talking about? Who’s going to get hurt?”  
“Mommy and Daddy!!!!!” He stared to cough harder and soon he was having trouble breathing as well. The spasms not allowing air to fill his lungs.  
“Jade, Jade calm down. Now! Jade. I hate when you do this to yourself. Breathe. Jade, look at me. Look in my eyes, Dushenka!” He stared into her eyes as the coughing became arduous, and breathing was suspended as the convulsions took control of his small body.  
Susan tightened her arms around him as his coughing took control. “Damn it!” Nancy raced around the table and began forcefully patting his back. “Don’t, Nancy, please. I’ve been through this before he’s not choking, and that won’t help. The stitches in his lung are coming out and when he gets worked up like this it aggravates the healing tissue. That patting will probably only make it worse, it reminds him of the beatings. I know that you’re trying to help, but right now he needs to calm down not get more agitated.” Nancy nodded in understanding and stepped back and allowed Susan to try to calm Jade on her own.   
Finally, after long moments of Jade’s coughing superimposing any conversation, the fit passed and Jade gratefully sucked in a deep breath. He gave a last, small cough and the air rushed back out of his lungs. “Better?”  
“No, Mommy and Daddy are in trouble!” Nancy brought a glass of water over to him.   
“Jade!” he looked up at her and stopped squirming around, “you need to stay calm. Tell me, slowly, what you saw.”  
“Thank you, Gramma.” He took another deep breath, a small sip of water, and began. “I was upstairs changin’ into my clothes, and I was tying my shoe, well, trying to. Then all of a sudden I saw Mommy and Daddy on a Whitestar. They were in danger. The Dark Men were shooting at their Whitestar, and then Daddy said that Montoya would have to wait for a pickup because they needed to make repairs. Then they were in Hyperspace and then Mommy looked at some controls or something and then she said they were ‘dead in space’.” By the time Jade finished he was sobbing and Susan pulled him to her and let him rest his small head on her shoulder. The sobbing started the awkward breathing again and before too long he was back to coughing. This time it wasn’t so extreme though.  
“Do you want another drink, sweetling?” He shook his head in the negative and covered his mouth. The coughing intensified for a moment and then Jade made a disgusted face. He pulled his hand away from his mouth and asked for a towel. Nancy brought one over and gave it to him.   
Susan grabbed his hand before he could wipe it though. She studied it to make sure there was no blood on it. When she saw that there wasn’t she let him wipe it on the towel. “I guess Stephen was right. Your stitches are coming up.”  
Jade nodded as he rested his head on her shoulder again. “I miss Mommy, Susochke. She’s gonna get lost soon. And Daddy too and I miss them. I know where they are gonna get lost at, and I wanna tell them, but Susochke what if I tell them and then something worse happens to them?”  
“I don’t know what to tell you, Dushenka. I am not a strong enough telepath to have visions like that one.”  
“I got even more scared because I never had one when I was awake before.” Susan looked at him shocked.  
“You had a waking vision?”  
Jade nodded, squirming under her gaze, “Mmhmm. Is that bad?” He asked in a small terrified voice.  
Susan was in shock, but decided that it would do no good to upset him more than necessary. “No, no Dushenka. It’s okay. I just never knew anyone besides Lyta to have a vision like that when they were awake.” She pulled him closer to reassure him.  
Jade rested his head on her chest and sighed, “I miss Mommy.” He said it softly, but Susan still heard his crestfallen admission, and sighed herself. She kissed his forehead and let her own head rest on his. David let his spoon slip back into his bowl and went to kneel beside him. He put a hand on his little brother’s back and soothed him like he had seen his mother do.  
“Hey, I bet Mom and Dad miss us too. How ‘bout you and me go and feed the horses?”  
Jade shook his head no, “I wanna stay with Susochke right now. If its okay?”  
“I understand, little brother. When you are ready let me know.” Jade nodded and David went back to his breakfast.  
Nancy walked over with another bowl and a box of cereal. “Why don’t we get some food in you and you’ll feel better.” Jade looked up and smiled as he nodded softly.  
He hugged Susan once more and slipped off her lap to sit in the chair between her and Jessie Ann, as his gramma made him a bowl of cereal. Lizie returned to the kitchen a few minutes later to find her daughter and nephews eating breakfast. “Hi guys. How has everything been?”  
David answered, “Pretty good, Aunt Liz.” She kissed his forehead and knelt by Jade.  
“And how are you?” She reached out and held his free hand.  
“Do you really wanna know, or are you just askin’?”  
“I really want to know. I also want to know if you and David and Gramma want to go into town with Jessie and me, and do some shopping.”  
“I miss my mommy and daddy, but I guess I’m okay. If David and Gramma wanna go then I guess so. Is Grampa coming, and can Susochke come too?” He watched her expectantly.  
“Well, I asked Grampa, and he said he was going to be busy today so he can’t go. If Susan wants to come I guess it would be fine.”  
“I’d love to, but I have appointments I have to keep.” Jade looked at her with consternation, and dropped his spoon into the bowl. Susan reached out and took both of his hands in her own. “Dushenka, I need to go to the office today. Hey, hey, its just like it is at home. I have to go to work, but you, instead of going to school, you get to go and have fun.”  
“I don’t want to go without you, Susochke.” She could tell he was troubled by her leaving him.  
“I won’t be gone for long, sweetling. At the moment, its only for today.”  
“At the moment?” He looked at her knowingly.  
“Well, when I get there I may have lots to do. I haven’t been to work for the past three weeks, remember.”  
“Yeah, but will you be back?”  
“Of course, I will see you later tonight. It may be that I am only here long enough to say goodbye, though. If I am needed I will have to stay there. I can’t fly back and forth between the office and here everyday. Besides you and David need to spend time with your grandparents without me around in the way.” She could see by the look in his eyes that was the wrong thing to say at that moment.  
“You’re not in the way!”  
“Jade, calm down. I may not need to stay, but I am going to see if the senate committee has decided to send me to help your mommy and daddy.” Jade let out a sigh that seemed to come from his toes. “Come here.” She pulled him into her lap again. “I love you very much, Dushenka. You know that don’t you?” He nodded. “Do you think I would leave you if I didn’t have to?” He shook his head. “Would your mom and dad leave you here if it weren’t safe?” Another shake of his head, and he sagged against her.  
“I know that they wouldn’t, but I’m so scared, Susochke. I’m scared, and I feel better when you’re here.”  
“I know, but you should feel better because you are with your grandparents and David and your Aunt Liz.”  
“That’s why you are gonna go to work then? You want me to get used to them without you around.”  
“That’s right. I won’t be here forever. I never planned on staying here with you the whole time you were here anyway. I’ve been here for as long as I think I need to be, and it’s just about time I get back to work, and I need to go clean up the mess we all left behind packing to come here.”  
Jade looked to the floor and back to Susan; he rested his forehead on hers and said, “I guess you better go then. If you need help then you can call us. David could fly us over to your house to help you clean up.”  
“That’s okay, Dushenka. I think I can manage.”  
“I had to try didn’t I?” He gave her a rare small smile.  
She chuckled back, “I guess you did.” He let her go and looked around. At first it seemed that he might try to sit with his brother, but after looking around the room he walked over to where his grandmother stood fixing her husband’s breakfast and wrapped his arms around one of her legs.  
“Do you wanna go with Aunt Lizie today Gramma?”  
Nancy looked down at him bewilderment in her expression. “Well, I suppose I would if you boys don’t mind. Although you could always stay here with Grampa.”  
He looked over to his Aunt sitting near Jessie at the table, “What are we gonna do in town?”  
“I thought we’d do a little shopping, and find a park to visit for lunch and you and Jessie could play for a while.”  
“Sounds okay to me, as long as David goes.” He looked over at his brother expectantly and perhaps a little mischievously.  
“I guess I could live through it, Jade.” Jade smiled and settled against Nancy. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Nancy began conversing with him in hushed tones, and the tension left the room.

********************************B5***************************

“--aren’t any other ships available to go and pick up the others that are still on the planet. All ships are engaging the enemy.” John looked over at Delenn as Marcus’s report ended.  
He turned back to the screen, “Give us a minute, Marcus, we’ll find a way to get to them, if I have to go myself. I want to get them proper medical attention as soon as possible. We don’t know if all of the Drakh have left the planet, and we need to get them out as soon as we can.”  
“Right, I’ll be waiting.” He clicked off and John stepped over to his wife.  
“What do you think? Should we send him to get them, or should we call Susan in to replace us and go get them ourselves.”  
“I don’t know, John. We do need Susan here, and I am also reluctant to send Marcus into a zone that is still in a very unstable state of affairs. He is out of practice, after all.”  
“I agree. So let’s call Susan in to help him with the rest and commandeer a Whitestar.”  
She waved a hand toward the intershiplink. He reconnected with Marcus on Whitestar 28. “--use spit and bailing wire if you have to, just make it work again.” He turned to the screen. “Yes.”  
“Marcus, we are going to contact Earth and get Susan out here. I am going to need you to get on a shuttle and get over here. As soon as she is en route to our position Delenn and I are going to take a Whitestar and go after our people on the planet.”  
“All right, what do I do over there?”  
“Until Susan gets here hold position. If the enemy engages you, defend yourselves, but unless its an emergency, don’t pursue until Susan arrives to co-command the fleet.”  
“All right, I’m on my way.” He cut the link and Delenn walked over from one of her aides.  
“Tennan has informed me that the area is clear for now. We should call while we can.”  
“Good, lets get moving.” He called for interstellar link to EarthDome.

 

********************************B5***************************

Admiral Elizabeth Lochley sat in her desk going over the latest reports from the senate committee in charge of the decision to send General Ivanova out to represent Earth in the Alliance battle fleet engaging the Drakh fleet. Ivanova herself was waiting, in her office three floors down on the opposite side of EarthDome, for the word that would send her into battle. Her intercom signaled for attention for what seemed like the hundredth time since she’d received the report fifteen minutes ago. “What now?”  
The voice of her aide came over the comm. “A call for you from President Sheridan, Admiral.”  
“Put him through.” She stood and straightened her uniform. A moment later John Sheridan’s face filled the screen. “Mr. President, can I help you?”  
“Yes, I need Ivanova out here A-S-A-P. We have an emergency elsewhere and Delenn and I both are needed to smooth the matter over. We need Susan to help command the fleet for us.”  
“You don’t waste time, do you, sir?”  
“Right now, Elizabeth, I don’t have any time to waste.”  
“I just got the senate’s decision on the matter.”  
“Well?”  
“So far, I haven’t read much of it, but so far it looks like they aren’t going to let her go out to play.”  
“Elizabeth, we need her, and we need her now.”  
“I know, I heard the first time. Actually, all this is, is an opinion pole. They can’t decide if she goes or not. Ultimately it’s my decision, and regardless of the opinions of the rest of the government, I am sending her to you.”  
“Good. Tell her to contact us as soon as she is en route. Delenn and I can’t leave the fleet until she is on her way to take our place.”  
“Sir, if I may?”  
“Ask away, Admiral.”  
“Does this emergency have anything to do with Jade, Sir.”  
“No, Jade and David, as far as I know, are fine. This is related to CleanSweep. That’s all I can tell you.”  
“I understand. I’ll get her moving at once.” John nodded and ended the call.

 

********************************B5***************************

Susan Ivanova paced the floors of her office waiting for Lochley to call her. She knew that the Senate debates were window dressing to make it seem that military command cared what the senate thought, and didn’t control what would happen. She just hoped that they called soon. She was about to go crazy waiting for either the go order or the refusal to allow her to assist the Alliance. She didn’t know which she wanted more. She had gone over and over the two choices in her mind.   
She felt a pull to go out and use her expertise to the advantage of John and Delenn’s fleet, and yet if they denied her she would be here on Earth to help Jade. She was torn between the two decisions on her own and felt that the opinion of the committee would be the deciding factor. Hence her anxious pacing.  
She had been at work for a week now. Jade was doing okay with John’s parents since she had decided to stay home and return to work after the first day she’d returned. He called her every night before bed and she was planning on going to stay with him on the weekend. She felt that he was settling down into his grandparents care.   
Her musings were interrupted by the Comm bleeping for her attention. So she gave it her undivided attention. “Yes?”  
Lochley’s face appeared, “General, go home and pack your gear, then go to Minnesota and kiss Jade and tell him goodbye. Then get out to Sector 40 by 10 by 2, and rendezvous with the Alliance fleet. When you are en route to the rendezvous, contact President Sheridan and let him know you are on your way. You will get your orders from him for the duration of this war.”  
“Yes sir, Admiral.” She sighed in relief. “I’ll get right on that. Oh, while I have you on the link. Would you do me a favor?”  
“Depends on what you want.”  
“Contact the Sheridans and set up a couple days that Avery and Jade can play together.”  
“That I can do. Good luck, Susan.”  
“Thank you.” She saluted and ended the call. After making sure everything was in order in her office Susan headed to her house. She arrived and packed her stuff in record time, even for her. Once her shuttle was in Hyperspace she made the call to John.

 

********************************B5***************************

John rolled over as the Comm began it’s signal. It took only a moment for the sound to register and he rose and grabbed his robe, all the while thankful he’d remembered to have a normal bed installed. He walked to the screen and bade it receive.  
“John, I’m on my way.” Susan’s face and voice appeared.  
“Good, now we can get moving. Susan, when you get here, Delenn and I won’t be with the fleet. We need you to co-command with Marcus while Delenn and I carry out a covert mission.”  
“Okay, John, I’ll get there as soon as I can.”  
“Marcus is under orders to wait for your arrival before going after any more of the hit and run squads. How did Jade take the news you weren’t going to be around any longer?”  
“Actually it wasn’t too bad. I migrated back to the house a week ago. He seems to be fine with your mom and dad, but when you two get a free minute you might call and talk to them both. Tensions have been rising little by little. They miss you and they are both scared to death. Jade still isn’t sleeping all that well, and he’s getting sick. Delenn’s message helped, but he needs you to make an appearance soon.”  
“I figured as much. I was planning on contacting them as soon as we get under way. It’s been hectic out here.”  
“Okay, well I’m gonna sign off and get some sleep.”  
“Pleasant dreams.” John cut the transmission, and contacted the ranger currently commanding the Whitestar he and Delenn had appropriated. “Contact Marcus and tell him we are heading out. Then take us away.”  
“Yes Sir,” came the acknowledgment.  
John returned to bed to find Delenn sitting up wide awake and waiting for him. “Was that Susan?”  
“Yeah,” he nodded as he settled back beside her. “She’s on her way, and now so are we.”  
“Did you ask her about our boys?”  
“They’re fine. She said that they are scared, and Jade is still having nightmares, and we need to call them. She said that Jade is making himself sick, and we should find the time to go and see both our boys very soon.”  
“I know that he is ill. I don’t know how, but I feel it somehow.” She shivered and John pulled her to him.  
“I guess its mother’s intuition. Like you knew that David was getting sick when he was small.” He kissed her temple. “Why don’t we get back to sleep, and we’ll call them when we get up.” She nodded against him and they both lie back.

 

********************************B5***************************

Jade sat in bed, awakened once again by the dreams, and unwilling to try to sleep again. He hugged his bear, and thought about Susan’s last visit to tell David and him that she was on her way to help their parents.  
“Hey, come here and give me a hug, munchkin.” She held her arms open and he ran to her.   
“I thought you weren’t going to be back until Friday.” He said as he hugged her.  
“I wasn’t, but your mom and dad need me. Sweet Dushenka, I came to tell you and David and your grandparents that I am leaving to join your mama and papa.”  
Jade’s face fell as she spoke, but to her surprise he didn’t show any signs of hysteria or agitation, as she’d expected. “Tell them to call us, okay. We’re scared. David is too.”  
“No I’m not, Jade.”  
“Yes you are David, I can feel it.”  
“Okay, fine, I am a little scared.”  
Susan smiled at the two of them. She kissed Jade and stood. “I’ll give them the message, and any others that you might need me to pass along.”  
“No, just tell ‘em to call us.” Jade let out a soft cough.  
“How is that coming along? Have you been to see a doctor about your lung?”  
“No, Gramma said that next week when we go and see Avery and his mom, we are gonna stop by Doctor Franklin’s office and have him look me over.” He said after taking her hand and holding it tightly.  
“Good, I don’t want you to get sick.”  
“How long can you stay, Susochke?”  
“I need to get going, actually. I wish I could stay, but that’s impossible. I just wanted to give you guys a big hug, and tell you goodbye.” Jade wrapped his arms around her legs, and David stepped closer and hugged her as well. She squeezed them both to her tightly. “I’ll see you both at the end of this. Take care of your grandparents, they’ve become my family too.”  
“We will, Aunt Susan.” David kissed her cheek and went to his gramma.  
Susan knelt by Jade and pulled him to her again. “I love you, Dushenka. Get sleep whenever you can. I know you’re afraid to sleep, but you are going to get sick if you don’t sleep.”  
“I’ll try, Susochke, but I’m scared, and its getting hard to eat again. Food doesn’t taste so good anymore.”  
“Jade! You listen to me. You have to eat. Find something that does taste good and eat that until you find something else that you can stomach. You are going to kill yourself. We all need you with us, your mama and papa, Marcus and I, we need to know that you are here waiting for us to come and get you.”  
“I will, Susochke. I’ll be here waiting for you.”  
“Good.” She pulled him close again, and kissed his forehead. She pulled back and rested her own forehead against his. “I’ll see you when I get back. I love you very much, My Dushenka.”  
“I love you too, Susochke.” He kissed her cheek and pulled away to stand with his grandparents and his brother. David, the elder, rested his hands on Jade’s shoulders.  
She waved one last time and boarded the shuttle. A few minutes later it took off.  
David walked into his dad’s old room and found his brother sniffling into his bear. “Hey, little brother, what’s wrong. Thinking of Susan, or Mom and Dad?”  
“I had another dream and then I was thinking about Susochke.” David walked over and sat beside him.  
“You should try to sleep a little more. We are going to see Admiral Lochley and your friend tomorrow. You don’t want to fall asleep while you are in the middle of playing with him, do you?”  
“He’d understand, but I’ll try.” He took a deep breath. “David, could you stay with me for a while?”  
“ ‘Course I can. Why do you think I came in here?”  
Jade smiled and David lay them both down. Eventually they both fell into an exhausted sleep.

********************************B5***************************

Nancy woke as the bed shook, and a small body slipped in beside her. “Good morning young man. Did you sleep any at all last night?”  
“Not really. I had a nightmare again, and I was awake for a long time and then David came and helped me sleep for a little while again, and then I woke again and it was almost morning, and I came in here.” He perched beside her on the bed. Nancy scooted closer to her husband and left room for Jade to lie down.  
“Snuggle in here. Its still pretty dark out, so its not quite morning.” He lie down and snuggled against her side. Dawn was just over the horizon.  
“Are we still gonna see Avery and his mom today, Gramma?”  
“Of course, sweetheart, your grandfather is even going with us.”  
“Are you gonna still make me go to Doctor Franklin?”  
“Yes, I am. Sweetheart, you are making yourself very ill by not sleeping. Your Daddy said that if you get sick I should take you to Doctor Franklin, and he’ll be able to help. I don’t want you to be sick, and I’m hoping that he’ll be able to help you get some sleep.”  
“I don’t wanna sleep anymore. Not until Mommy comes to make the Dark Men go away. I don’t want to see the Dark Men anymore.”  
Nancy shivered at his mention of the race that her son and daughter-in-law were battling. “I know that they scare you, but you still need to sleep, but not right now I’d guess. So, lets get up and I’ll help you find something to wear today. Then we can go down and start breakfast.” He nodded and sat back up. Nancy joined him and they went to find some clothes for him.

********************************B5***************************

David, the younger, rolled over and sat up when the sound of hangars scraping registered. “You had another nightmare didn’t you Jade?”  
He was slightly surprised when his grandmother answered instead of his brother. “Yes, he did and I decided that he and I are going to start breakfast so that we can get an early start toward Geneva.” He looked up to see her pull out an outfit of Jade’s to get it’s approval from the little boy who stood near by in the dim light given off by the newly bought nightlight. He shook his head and grabbed a different set. “Okay, I think its a good choice.” She gave her consent.   
“I’ll go change now.” He said as he left the room.  
Nancy looked up at her elder grandson and bade him lie back, “Go on back to sleep, Davy, we’ll be fine. I’m going to get dressed myself and then I’ll have him help me in the kitchen.”  
“Just to let you know, he and Dad watch Rebo and Zooty most mornings, or at least they used to. You might want to sit with him for a little while. He’ll probably appreciate it, might even go back to sleep. See you at breakfast in a little while.”  
“Thank you for the tip, sleep good. I’ll see you in a couple hours.” She stopped by the bed and pulled the blanket more closely around him. She then returned to her room and got dressed.

********************************B5***************************

Jade sat calmly while Doctor Franklin looked him over, in the EarthDome Medlab. He’d finally gotten used to all the fuss, and endured it without complaint, which Stephen was grateful for. “I see that you haven’t been eating well, again. Susan will be upset.”  
“I’m sorry. I eat as much as I can, food just stopped tasting good, and sometimes when I wake up and remember the things I saw I get sick at my tummy, and then the food that I did eat doesn’t do me any good because its in the toilet.” He curled his lips in disgust.  
Stephen chuckled at Jade’s honesty. “Thanks for letting me know. It sounds like mostly stress that is the problem there, but it may be that you aren’t used to some types of food here. I have some mild sedatives that will help him sleep all night, I didn’t suggest them before in hopes that he’d calm down and sleep better on his own” he turned and addressed Nancy and her husband, “if need be I can put him on sleepers temporarily, just until John and Delenn finish and get home. That will stop the visions, but we’ll have to call them and ask permission. I’m sure they explained the reason’s they kept that decision to themselves.” When Nancy shook her head he explained that some telepaths reacted badly to sleepers and they didn’t want to have Jade on them if it could be avoided.  
“We can’t get a hold of them.” Nancy replied after his explanation. “Davy, Jade and I talked to John one morning earlier this week, and they are embarking on a special mission. They’re under communications blackout, we were told, that is why John called that morning. He didn’t know when he’d get another chance. Delenn even spoke to Jade for a bit. She seemed so tense, though. I wondered if she’s been getting any sleep herself. She was very relieved to see the boys, though.” Nancy smiled at the thought of Delenn’s sigh as her smaller son replaced his grandmother’s face on the screen that morning. Then she remembered the worried look that John’s face had adopted when he’d seen Jade’s image.  
“In that case, my hands are tied and I can’t give them to him, but I can give you a food plan to go by, mostly Minbari food stuffs that he’s probably used to, and that will not upset his stomach and he might even like the food better.”  
“That would be a great help. I can’t get him to eat anything.”  
“Well, if the food plan doesn’t work, I say find something that he likes and has no trouble eating, and let him eat that. As long as its nutritious it doesn’t matter what he eats, so long as he is eating. Try the plan first, though.”  
David, the younger, entered the room after tiring of sitting in the waiting area. “How’s he doing, Uncle Stephen?”  
“Well, I’ve seen him in worse condition, and then I’ve seen him in better. I think he’ll be fine though. Now,” he turned back to the adults, “he should only take one dose a night. Right before bed. The dose is light and it won’t cause any problems in his system. If he wakes up during the night he should go right back to sleep, don’t give him another dose, just let him be. If he doesn’t go back to sleep he’ll be fine, and if he does go back to sleep he’ll be better.” He started back to Jade. “I want to check his stitches, and see what kind of progress they are making. You said he’s been having coughing attacks?”  
“Yes, lately they seem to be less and less.”  
“Good, that means they are almost gone. Either absorbed into his system or he’s gotten them out while he was coughing. I also want to do another skin treatment while he’s here. His scaring was minimal and its looking better.” He said as he lifted Jade’s shirt to examine the scar running down the center of Jade’s chest. “It won’t take long and he should only have, maybe, two more for the scar tissue to disappear.”  
Nancy nodded and she and both Davids left the room.  
“Well, Jade, looks like it’ll be just you and me for this treatment.”  
Jade pursed his lips and nodded, “Yeah, looks like it. I wish Mommy was here. I get scared when you do the thing with the machine.”  
“Do you want to know what this machine does?” He got a nod. “Well, its called a regeneration laser. What it does is take all the damaged tissue that makes your scar and makes it healthy and undamaged again. Pretty neat, wouldn’t you say?”  
“Yep.”  
“Well, lets get started so you can get outta here and go play.”


	12. Chapter 12

********************************B5***************************

Avery Gideon was anxious for the arrival of his friend. Every few minutes he asked his mother when his friend would arrive. Elizabeth Lochley was about to go insane. Her son couldn’t sit still and doing his school work was out of the question. Finally, she’d had enough of his fidgeting and ordered him to her assistant’s office to watch the monitor, so she could get some work done.  
About five minutes after she’d ushered her son out of the room he burst back in yelling excitedly, “They’re here, they’re here!!! Mom, come on!” She filed away her work and let him pull her from the room. She immediately spotted Nancy and her elder grandson in the reception area of her offices.  
“Nancy, its good to see you again.” Lochley stepped forward around her son to embrace the older woman.  
“Indeed, young lady, its been far too long.” She returned the embrace. “This intelligent looking young man must be Avery.” She stepped over and shook his small hand. “Nice to meet you. Jade has spoken very highly of you.”  
“Nice to meet you too. Where is Jade?”  
“He and his grandfather went in search of a bathroom. They’ll rejoin us in a moment.” She watched as David nodded to Elizabeth and introduced himself to Avery.  
He turned and addressed Elizabeth, “I have always been curious about you, ma’am. My dad told me about your marriage, and that you were in command of Babylon 5 for quite a while. Would you tell me some of the stories about your time there?”  
“I’d love to, but here comes your grandfather, so maybe a little later.”  
“I’d like that. I’d like to hear about Dad when he was younger too, from the point of view of someone other than Mom.” Lochley smiled at him and greeted David, the elder, with a smile and handshake that became a hug.   
“How are you these days, sir?”  
“Drop the sir, Elizabeth. I’m not an ambassador any longer. Its just David now. We’re doing fine, I suppose.” She smiled.  
As she caught sight of Jade, though, her smile faded. She noticed dark circles under his eyes, and he appeared drawn and pale with fatigue. She noticed he was considerably thinner than the last time she’d seen him, and his skin held an ashen tint to it. “Hello, Jade. You don’t look like you feel well. Have you stopped eating again.”  
He didn’t attempt to answer her and David said, “He’s had another treatment for the scar on his chest. He’s not feeling so well right now, which is why we went to find a bathroom.”  
“Hi, Jade!” Avery came forward. “I’ve been waiting all day for you to get here, so we could go and play ball or something.”  
“Me too, but I hadda go see a doctor first ‘cause I haven’t been sleeping so good again, and food doesn’t taste good again.” He kept his gray-blue eyes on Avery, not looking up at his friend’s mother. Lochley just shook her head sadly.  
“Well, lets go and find some lunch. I seem to remember Jade liked the peanut butter and honey sandwiches last time he wasn’t feeling too well. Maybe we can find some more of them.”  
David, the younger, lifted Jade off the floor. “Sounds good to us. Doesn’t it, Jade?”  
He nodded and they all waited while Lochley closed up her office.

********************************B5***************************

Two hours later Nancy and Elizabeth, now casually dressed out of uniform, were watching the two six-year-olds chase David around a small park not far from Susan and Marcus’s home.  
“What brought on this latest attack, Nancy?”  
“A week before Susan got called off planet, Jade came running down stairs saying he had a waking vision of his momma and his daddy. He’s had dreams where they are lost in Hyperspace before. This time he said he knew when and where they would get into trouble and how they ended up drifting in Hyperspace. Ever since then the visions and premonitions have been nonstop. Plus, the stitches in his lung have been coming out and causing awful coughing fits. Doctor Franklin says its almost cleared out though. He should be fine by next week.”  
“I hope Stephen is right. I had hoped that Jade would get better when he went to your home. If wishes were horses, though...” She sighed and trailed off as she turned to watch the two smaller boys finally tackle David. “He seems happy enough now.”   
As the two women watched David, the younger, playfully shook the smaller boys off his back and proceeded to tickle each of them in turn. After he’d let Jade up, Elizabeth watched, intrigued that he didn’t rejoin the scuffle. Instead he traipsed over to the elder David and sat by him and watched him for a moment. “What is David doing over there?”  
“Oh, most likely he’s drawing some new picture. It’s a hobby he’s taken up over the years.”  
“I wonder what he’s drawing.”  
“We’ll see soon enough. I’m sure.”  
Jade left his grandfather’s side and went to climb up a giant, hollowed out, cement dragon sculpture. The ‘dragon’ was lounging with it’s head up and alert. The base of the tail and the rump of the dragon formed the starting points for climbers young and old. The tail curled up and around the body to end in front of the open-mouthed head, the climber used the plates as a rail and the scales formed a staircase. The head and neck formed a slide down into the inside of the ‘dragon’ and the child could either reclimb the tail and slide again or climb up the back of the ‘dragon’ using it’s spinal plates as hand and foot holds, to the top of it’s head. In the center of the back a hole gaped where the climber could choose to drop into the interior of the ‘dragon.’ The interior was like a cave and had several holes in the sides to allow entrance or exit, and the ground was padded with foam to form a soft landing place for those who chose to drop from above.  
Jade climbed up the back of the ‘dragon’ and up it’s neck onto the top of the head. He sat with his knees up to his chest, arms resting on his knees, and chin resting on top of his arms. After a couple of minutes he raised his head and looked up through a break in the trees above him. Lochley watched him, as David and Avery kept playing below. His small body went rigid as he sat there staring at the sky.

********************************B5***************************

John watched the screen intently as their Whitestar approached Centauri Prime. Delenn sat on his left at the tactical station. She listened to reports on the last known whereabouts of their team. She also kept a vigil, watching for any Drakh still in the area. “Have we received a response from Montoya?” John asked.  
“Yes, he and the others are at the rendezvous on the southern continent. I will contact him when we are in position.”  
“Then let’s take her in slowly, and keep our eyes peeled for any Drakh ships still in the area.”  
“I am, John.” She sounded a little edgy.  
“I know, sorry. I’m just nervous. Something feels wrong here.” He took a shaky breath and let it out slowly. The Whitestar began gliding toward the planet at a casual pace. If they’d been in any other ship they wouldn’t have been noticed, but they were in a Whitestar. The configuration was well known to the Drakh.  
Delenn gasped, “Three mid-class cruisers on intercept approach. Fighters launching.”  
“Evasive, but keep us on course for the planet,” came John’s order.  
Delenn turned to the Ranger stationed at the communications console. “Signal Montoya, tell him that we’ve run into trouble, but we are still coming for them.” The ranger’s hands became a flurry of activity.  
“What’s our status?”  
“Fighters and cruisers still on approach. Energy spike! All their weapons are armed and ready to fire. All that is left is their range, they are still outside optimum firing range.”  
“Okay, go weapons hot, and launch fighters.” He watched as the fighters’ representations appeared on the display he called for. Silence reined for three and a half minutes then the Drakh fighters opened fire and the cruisers began advancing. “Here they come.” He stated sounding matter-of-fact to everyone but Delenn.

 

********************************B5***************************

Halfway across the galaxy, sitting atop the shimmering, purple/black head of a ‘dragon,’ a pair of gray-blue eyes lost focus as they watched rapt with grief and hope and fear as the battle raged. Grief because he knew what was coming, hope because he wished for it to end differently than he’d seen, and fear because his mommy and his daddy were in mortal danger and he could do nothing to warn them off the path they were walking, if he should warn them away. He still wasn’t sure about that either.

********************************B5***************************

The cruisers reached firing distance and wasted no time pounding the port energy weapons of the Whitestar. Most of the energy was deflected away and dispersed evenly over the shielding, but after too many hits the damage was too great and the port weapons exploded violently. That, in turn, damaged the thrusters and engines aft of the weapons array. Delenn listened intently to the damage reports that began to pour through to her station. She read them off to John. “Port thrusters are damaged, port weapons are destroyed and there are breaches throughout the area surrounding the array. Injured are being taken to the medical quarters now. Damage to thrusters is extensive. They can be repaired, but it will take time. We will have to wait until they are working again before attempting to enter the atmosphere.”  
“NO! If we don’t go now we may not get the chance again. Delenn reroute--” He was cut off as a new wave of energy bolts pounded the forward view ports and consoles around the bridge blew under the stress. John was thrown from his seat and once he picked himself up he assessed the damage around him.  
Delenn stood at the controls of the Whitestar and worked furiously to correct for the damaged left thruster. John decided to abandon the command chair for a separate console. It’s former operator lay bleeding, a few feet in front of the console. John checked the damage reports again, and was disheartened to note that now the forward batteries were as inoperative as the port batteries. He looked up to the forward view and saw that another squadron of Drakh fighters were heading for them.  
“Delenn, here comes the next wave. Get ready for impact. How are you coming with the thrusters?”  
“Not good, John. I can only give you twenty percent on the port thruster. Starboard is still fully operative, but if we fire it at full and the other as is we will begin a flat spin.”  
“Then don’t fire it at full. Equalize them and get us moving. I am going to open a jump point, and we’re getting out of here. Montoya and the others will have to wait until we make repairs, or can send another ship in.”  
“Working on it.” There were tense minutes of silence and then Delenn announced, “That should do it. We have power and can move. Slowly, but surely.”  
“Good work.” John ran his hand over the crystal controls and listened to the singsong as his orders were carried out. The ship began moving forward. He skimmed another control and the familiar brown jump point opened in front of them. The fighters followed, gaining ground on the injured Whitestar. They entered the jump point behind them and began firing again. John waited just long enough for the Whitestar to get through the point and then forcibly collapsed it. The Drakh ships were caught and destroyed, but not before they took out the starboard thrusters and disabled communications by targeting and destroying the array. John checked reports again, not believing what he was seeing.  
“Delenn, reports coming in now say that we have no thrusters. Is that true?”  
“I am afraid so, John. It appears that we are dead in space, or perhaps I should say Hyperspace.”  
“Jade was right, his dream. He told me he saw this happening.” He moved to stand in front of his command chair.  
“I know, he told me of this too.” She walked to where he stood and took his hands in hers, “John, we can do nothing to alter this course. As I said, we don’t have enough information to change anything. What will happen, will happen.” He pulled her closer and she buried her face against his strong heartbeat.

********************************B5***************************

Two small, gray-blue eyes came into focus on the clouds’ silent passage above him. They closed tightly and two tears slid slowly down the pallid face. Slowly, he became aware of the chirps and other birdcalls, and of the warm summer breeze. His head dropped to his knees and he wrapped his arms around them. After a few moments the small head rose once more to the sky, and Jade whispered, “And so it begins.” His dad had told him of the Vorlon known as Kosh, and his cryptic sayings. Jade felt in his own special six-year-old way, that that particular message was the right one to signify the first of his dreams falling into place. He sat there on the head of the ‘dragon’ for a small eternity, just staring up at the sky.  
Eventually, he climbed down and went to his gramma. She pulled him close for a moment then released him to go and play a little more before they would return to the farm where he’d wait for the news to be broken to his grandparents and his brother. He knew that if he tried to tell them they’d say it was another of his dreams, so he waited for someone to call them.

********************************B5***************************

Susan paced the length of the room and back again in front of Marcus. He was amazed to find that her pacing was actually comforting him. They both were edgy and worried. It was well past the pre-arranged check-in time that John had set up. Susan was ready to chew shrapnel if that was what it would take to get information on her friends, her family.  
“Anything yet?” She asked for the tenth time in five minutes.  
Marcus ground his teeth for a moment before answering. Where her pacing was a comfort, her constantly asking the same question over and over was driving him insane. “Nothing yet, Suz. You’ll be the first to know if I hear anything.” He left his console and stepped in her path, wrapping his arms around her as she collided with him. “We’ll find them it’ll take a while, but I for one will not stop looking.”  
She held him tightly, “I know, but we need to inform David and Nancy. We have to let them know that John and Delenn may not return. So they can prepare the boys for that possibility.”  
“You’re worried about Jade.”  
“OF COURSE, I’m worried about him. Did you see him when we called two days ago? He isn’t doing well, Marcus.”  
“I know, I saw him. He hasn’t been eating again, nor has he slept well.”  
“I guess I’ll go call them. They have a right to know.”  
“Would you like me to come along?”  
“No, you stay here and keep looking.” She kissed him and disengaged her arms from his waist. He returned her kiss briefly and let her go.  
Susan exited the command center and walked down the corridors to their rooms. She punched in her entry code and the door slid open to reveal a darkened living area. She called for lights and the room illuminated, but that is all that happened. It went from dark to light, but there was still a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. ‘Well,’ She thought, ‘I can at least get a shower and change before calling them.’ She proceeded to the bathing chamber and cleaned the last two battles from her body. She put on a clean uniform and tossed the soiled one into the dispenser. It would be cleaned and returned.  
She looked around her and sighed, ‘Can’t put it off any longer Susan. Just do it.’ She patched into Stellar Comm and called up David and Nancy Sheridan’s home.

********************************B5***************************

 

David, Jade and Nancy were sitting in the den watching a vid before bed, while the elder David wrote some notes down about his plans for the next day. He had just gotten up and moved to sit with his family when the StellarCom called for attention. He bypassed the couch and went to answer. A young operator’s face filled the screen. “You have a call from Susan Ivanova.”  
“Receive.” He looked back to see Jade’s intent face looking toward him. Susan’s face replaced the operator’s.  
“Hello, Mr. Sheridan. I wonder if I might speak to you for a moment alone. I have news that--”  
“Mom and Dad are missing.” Jade said from his seat beside Nancy. All eyes, even Susan’s turned, shocked, to rest on the boy. He began to squirm under their scrutiny. “They’ve been gone since we went to the park with Avery. Last week.”  
“Jade, why didn’t you say something?”  
“You woulda told me that it was just another dream, but it felt different. I knew it was real.” He leaned back against his gramma. Her arms slipped around his trembling form and tried to comfort him. Both Davids returned their attention to the screen. Only then did Jade look up at his gramma. She saw trepidation in his sad eyes. “Gramma, do you think you could stay with me tonight after I go to sleep. Just for a little while I don’t wanna be by myself.” He gasped a short breath to stave off a sob.  
“I think I can arrange that, sweetheart.” Her soft smile soothed him somewhat and he climbed into her lap. “Davy,” she called to her older grandson. She had been watching his actions become more and more hysterical. He was arguing with Ivanova over whether he could go and help with the search. She was adamant that he’d stay where John had said he’d stay. She was surprised when Jade slipped off her lap and walked over to him. The little boy took his brother’s hand, and pulled him away from the monitor.  
“Jade, I need to talk to Aunt Susan. Let go, I’ll find you when I’m done.” Jade shook his head, adamant that David would not return to the screen until he’d calmed down. Even though she was light years away, Jade could feel the tension and pain radiating from his hold-mother.   
“David, when is Shal Mayan supposed to come see us?” He was rewarded with an exasperated look.   
“What does that matter now? Didn’t you hear yourself, didn’t you hear Aunt Susan confirm what you said? Mom and Dad are missing maybe they are dead.”  
“David, they are lost not dead, not yet anyway. I saw what happened, remember. They’re in hyperspace. The Whitestar is drifting, and they are trying to make repairs. I just know that they are.” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as his older brother. “We are gonna hafta tell Mayan about Mommy and Daddy. You and me because you know her better than Gramma and Grampa, and soon so will I.”  
“I don’t get you. You’re totally distraught over the dreams, you stop eating and sleeping, but when we find out that it really happened you’re fine.”  
Tears filled Jade’s eyes. “I’m not fine, David. I wish Mommy and Daddy were here more than you know. Believe me I do. I don’t wanna hafta get new family again, but you’re hurting Susochke,” Jade’s voice rose to a scream, “and I can’t let you do that.” David’s mouth hung open and he knelt in front of Jade.  
“I’m sorry.” Was all that he could choke out.  
“Its okay, David, you’re scared like me, but you shouldn’t hurt Susochke because of that.” Jade hugged him. “Don’t let it happen again, okay.”  
“I won’t.” David stood, lifting Jade with him. “Aunt Susan,” He stepped over again interrupting her conversation with David, the elder. “I’m sorry I acted the way I was. I’m worried, and that’s no excuse to hurt you.” Jade smiled a little smile at his brother.  
He whispered, “Thank you, Davy,” and giggled at his use of the nickname, “that’s a funny name.”  
“You just need to get used to it. Gramma and Grampa have always called me that.”  
“Called you what, David?” Susan asked.  
“Davy. Its easier to get the right David when I’m here if you call me, Davy and Grampa, David. Jade commented that it sounded funny. I was explaining.”  
“Oh, okay. How are you holing up, Jade?” She asked him.  
His face took on a somber look. “I’m all right, I guess. I miss Mommy still.”  
“I know you do. We all miss her, and your dad.”  
“I’m glad I got David with me though.”  
“I’ve got.” She corrected, and smiled at him. He smiled back.  
“We better let you talk to Grampa.” Jade wriggled out of David’s arms and pulled him away from the screen toward the door. They’d reached the door when he turned, “Susochke, please be careful.”  
“I will, my Dushenka. I will find your mama and daddy for both of you. In fact, Marcus and I’ve already sent ships to look for them.” He nodded and pulled David out the door.

********************************B5***************************

“What are you doing, ya little rat?” David asked as Jade dragged him to a clearing.  
“I wanna look at the stars with you. Like Dad does with us. I miss home, David. Sometimes, I wonder if we’ll ever go there again.”  
“Of course we will, Jade. After we find Mom and Dad and the Drakh are defeated, but I miss home too.”  
“I even miss my lessons with Tannier. I’m kinda glad that we don’t have many lessons here, ‘cause I don’t think I concentrate too well.”  
“You really are homesick, aren’t you? I don’t miss school, but I do miss my friends and even my teachers. That’s why I’m glad Aunt Mayan is coming to teach us Ti’Lar. You’re gonna like her. She and Mom are very similar. They grew up together, and have been best friends since they were younger than you.”  
“She sounds nice. I hope that I’m not too scared of her. You know what?”   
“What?”  
“I miss seeing other Minbari. I miss them smiling when you pass by or bowing in respect of Mommy or Daddy. I feel weird here because there aren’t any Minbari.”  
“I know how you feel. Everyone on Minbar is friendly to everyone else. Here they rarely even smile or say hello.” David sat pulling his brother down to his lap. “Look there’s the big dipper. Humans don’t trust each other easily. Where Minbari have lived in peace with a sacred law that no Minbari may kill another Minbari, the humans have lived in constant warfare.”  
“You’re both Human and Minbari aren’t you David?” David nodded. “Do you ever feel that because you’re different people won’t like you?”  
“Not really. I look human more than Minbari, so when I’m here humans treat me like they do other humans. Some ask why I don’t have eyebrows and they do, but its never been a problem because many full humans my age shave their eyebrows. On Minbar, I’ve grown up in the public eye because of Dad’s presidency and because Mom is Entil’zha. So people there know who I am, and treat me with the respect that a leader’s child is treated. Why, do people at home treat you differently?”  
“No, I just wondered. I like it when I go out with Mom or Dad because the people are nice. Mostly I have problems here. Once, when I went to the store with Susochke, I bowed, to a Minbari man we passed, in respect and acknowledgment, like Mom taught me, and people looked at me funny.”  
“Now that, I know what you mean. I guess you are kinda like me that way. You have human looks but are more like a Minbari in your actions. People here still hold animosity for Minbari because of the war. They probably always will. Don’t worry about it though. You are who you are, and don’t ever be ashamed of it. Mom and Dad both have told me that when I was feeling the way you are. Its hard to be accepted in a society that you belong to only part of the way.”  
“Yeah.” He sighed. “Did humans really hurt Shal Mayan just because she was a Minbari?”  
“Yes they did, a very long time ago.”  
“Were they Nightwatch too?”  
“No, they called themselves the HomeGuard. They were much more direct than Nightwatch. I learned about them a few years ago in history class.”  
“Do you think that Shal Mayan won’t like me since I’m a human?”  
“Are you kidding? She’s gonna love you as much as Mom and Dad do. You’ll get along great, but that’s not what is bothering you is it?”  
“No, not really. I guess I’m just nervous to meet her, but I liked Captain Lenann, so maybe I’ll be able to like her too.”  
“You will, I know it. She’s just like Mom. After you meet her you won’t want her to leave. I can’t wait to see her.”  
“When is she gonna get here?”  
“Some time next week, most likely. I think her last reading is on Tuesday.”

********************************B5***************************

John sat up abruptly in bed, startled from sleep by a dream. He slowed his breathing and finally realized that he was alone in bed. He stood and put on his robe to go in search of Delenn. He found her slumped in the center of the couch, in their makeshift quarters, reports and repair suggestions spread around her. He sighed, this was the third night in a row that she’d left after he’d fallen asleep. The only time she rested anymore was when she dropped in exhaustion. He slowly pulled the latest report on the communications from her grip. He then slid one arm around her shoulders and the other under her knees. He lifted her off the couch and carried her into their room.  
She stirred slightly as he lay her in the bed, but he made soothing sounds and she drifted back into deeper slumber. He slipped out of his robe and got back into the bed scooting closer to her and draping an arm over her protectively. She sighed in her sleep and rolled into his embrace. He held her loosely and drifted off.  
He was next awakened by her fear-filled moans. He leaned over and shook her softly calling for her to wake up. She didn’t even stir and he gave himself over to impulse and kissed her soundly on the lips.   
Delenn struggling out of the dreams felt a pressure on her mouth. She fought it at first then she woke enough to realize that the pressure was John’s own lips pressed tightly to hers, and she relaxed into his kiss and allowed him to finish waking her.  
John pulled back and looked down at his wife. “You were having one of Jade’s nightmares, love.”  
“No this one was mine alone, but I doubt it was any less traumatic than our son’s. Thank you for waking me, and for finding such an innovative way of accomplishing your task.” He smiled and lay his head beside her as she rolled to face him. “It hurts that we are again at war, my cause has always been life and now even if it is necessary lives are lost. I... also feel guilty.”  
“Why, Delenn? You may have given the order to attack the Drakh, but even if you hadn’t I would have.”  
“It is not that, so much. I have started and finished and participated in wars before, and I know how to deal with the pain that causes. I must confess that the main reason I feel guilty is that I did not go to see Jade with you and I feel guilty that I am a little jealous that you got to see him. I know you left the invitation open, and I don’t know why I couldn’t accept it. I just felt that it would be best if I didn’t go to him only to leave a few short hours later.”  
“I think I know what you’re talking about. The look on his face when I told him I wasn’t there to take him home damn near killed me.” He paused momentarily seeing again Jade’s tear filled eyes. “As it is it tore my heart out, stomped it and put it back. I felt so bad leaving him like that. I’ve always felt like that when we had to leave David too, and even though he’s older now it feels the same as it always did. Probably always will.”  
“That is exactly what I am feeling. I miss our sons very much, and I am worried that we will never see them again. I also worry that Jade’s other dreams will come to pass. He was right about this one.”  
“Like you have told me numerous times since he started having them, ‘we can’t do anything to change the paths that others follow. It is their responsibility to follow their path and choose the right actions to bring them back safe from harm.’”  
She nodded and pulled herself into his arms kissing his neck as she did. “We need sleep, my love. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring a solution to our communications problem.”  
“Yeah, hopefully we’ll be able to contact the fleet and get rescued because those engines are finished.” He kissed her temple and settled against her drifting off even as he spoke to her.

********************************B5***************************  
Shal Mayan strode purposefully down the ramp of her shuttle. She was met by her honorary nephew, and pulled him to her. David rested his head on his aunt’s robes and felt some of his agitation glide away on the scent of the ever-present paper in her ever-present bag. Her arms tightened momentarily and she pulled away to look at him. “How are you holding up?”  
“Since Mom and Dad went missing not too well, Aunt Mayan.” He rested against her again.  
“What about the little one? How is he taking it?” She asked watching the little boy standing near the house petting a small furry creature held in his hands.  
“I don’t know. Sometimes he’s worse than I am, and sometimes he is okay. Like now he’s scared to be meeting a new person, but his thoughts are with Mom and Dad. He is searching for them I think. Using his telepathy he is reaching out to find them. I can tell by the way he pets that stupid ferret that Grampa consented to buying him.”  
“From what your mother has spoken of with me, I think that his bond with her might be strong enough to allow him to find her if he keeps looking.”  
“Unless she’s dead.” He said softly with his face buried in her shoulder.  
“Do not think that way, nephew. You will see her and your father again. They will be found, and they will be all right.” She comforted him as she had when he’d been a tiny thing left in her care while his parents went off to save the universe yet again. “Come introduce me to my new nephew, and allow me to say hello to your grandparents.” She ordered when he had relaxed.  
“Right, I’ll get your things and carry them inside.” He took her bag of writing tools and slung it over a shoulder. He led her to the house and gathered Jade as he went. “Jade this is Shal Mayan. Aunt Mayan, this is your new nephew, Jade.”  
“It is a pleasure to meet the small one that has so enslaved the heart of my dear friend.” Jade smiled at her expression.  
“Hi. David told me lots about you, and so has Mommy. Do you really think I made her a slave?”  
“No, child not a true slave, but a slave to her love for you.”  
“Oh, in that case I guess the feeling is mutual.”  
Mayan chuckled softly at the boy. He was definitely her dear friend’s son maybe not through blood, but through the heart and the spirit he was Delenn’s child. “And who might this little animal be?”  
“His name is Baldor. The name is from Norse Mythology. I think he was the god of protection, at least that’s what Grampa said.”  
Mayan nodded and said, “it is a nice name, but come let’s go inside out of the evening air. I wish to greet your grandparents.” Jade took her offered hand and led her onto the porch and into the house. Nancy and David were sitting in the den speaking softly to one another. They rose as Jade and Mayan entered followed by David.  
“Welcome, Shal Mayan. We are honored to have you in our home.” David’s diplomatic skills were as sharp as ever.  
“Yes, its been a very long time since we had the pleasure of your company.” Nancy joined in the greetings.  
“I thank you for the welcome, but please call me Mayan. Not many call me that any longer. It is I who am honored to be here. I have always felt welcome when visiting you here.”  
“That’s because you are welcome here. Delenn is part of our family and you are part of hers, so that makes you part of ours as well.” Mayan smiled and what little tension felt in the room dissipated.  
“Enough formality, I would like to get more aquatinted with young Jade before it gets too late.” She looked down at the boy, who’s hand she still held delicately. He looked back at her as she studied his features.  
“You wanna sit down?” He asked after a few moments.   
“That would be nice, yes.” She moved into the room, pulling Jade and the ferret with her, and sat on the small sofa facing the seats that Nancy and David had abandoned at their entrance. “Please continue your conversation, don’t let me disrupt anything.”  
“Oh, we weren’t talking about anything special. Just talking and being together.” Nancy rationalized. “We can go in the other room if you want to speak with Jade alone.”  
“That’s not necessary. I will have plenty of time to speak with him. Right now I want to help him become accustomed to me.” She sat back and relaxed, as David joined them and sat between Jade and Mayan. She smiled at him and pulled him closer. Mayan had always doted on David, not having any children of her own she unofficially adopted the son of her closest friend. “Tell me what I have missed back home.”  
“Well, we got Jade settled into the house and there have been visitors almost nonstop. Ambassadors and such coming to meet with Mom and Dad, and family and friends and the clan elders to be introduced to Jade. Finally, just when I think things might settle down a little, Mom and Dad have to go off to fight a war.” The last sentence was spoken through clenched teeth. Mayan gently massaged his shoulder in sympathy. She was worried about his parents too.  
Jade stood and excused himself. “I’m gonna go outside for a while, Grampa.”  
“Okay, son, but don’t go far, and put Baldor in his cage while you’re out there.”  
He nodded, “I’m just gonna go say good night to the horses.”  
“Okay, tell Tranquil Moon to enjoy her carrot.”  
“I will.” Jade tossed back as he exited the house.  
Mayan watched him go. David noticed the consternation on her brow. “He does this every night, Aunt Mayan. Don’t worry, he’s just saying good night to Dad’s horse.”  
“Do you think he would mind if I joined him?” She was still looking the way Jade had gone. David shrugged.  
“Don’t know. No one has ever followed him before.” At this she turned and looked at him.  
“Maybe it is time someone did.” She stood and excused herself. Then realized she had no idea where the child had gone.   
She turned back and the elder David supplied, “To the barn. The big building behind the house.”  
She smiled and bowed her thanks, then left the house.

********************************B5***************************

Jade stood in the exact place he had when John had first introduced him to the horse known as Tranquil Moon. He held the carrot out to her, and she accepted it readily. He pet her velvet like nose as she crunched loudly. The tears that came every night poured down his cheeks. The horse finished munching the carrot and nuzzled Jade’s hand as she did every night, and as he did every night at this signal, Jade lay his head against the horse’s.  
Mayan watched the scene from the door of the barn. She hadn’t seen the tears from her distant spot, but she knew the child was distraught. Slowly she approached him, and when he failed to notice her after she had reached his side she knew that he was in terrible pain. From what Delenn had told her, this boy never let his guard down, yet here he was with all his powers of observation tuned out as he stood with his face buried against the magnificent animal before him.   
She hesitated to disturb him, but finally her sense of obligation to Delenn got the better of her, and she pulled him away from the gate he stood upon. She didn’t give him time to protest as she pulled him to her and held him in her arms. “It is me, Jade. I was worried about you.” She felt his uneven breathing slow as he realized that she was not going to hurt him.  
“You scared me.” He put his arms around her neck and hugged her in relief. To her surprise he began sobbing on her shoulder. “I’m so scared that I won’t see my mommy again. You’re her friend, and she always is telling me that I can trust her friends. I hope I can trust you.”  
“I hope you can too. This is a good start toward trusting me, child, I am here so that we may learn to be friends. If you would like I’ll read to you tonight. Your mother has told me how much you like her to read you stories.” She stroked the fine dark hair soothingly.  
“I do like stories, but could you tell me about my mommy and maybe my daddy before I knew them.”  
“If that is what you would like.” He nodded. “I have one stipulation though, before I agree to this request.”  
“What?”  
“If you are ever sad like this again, I want you to come to me, or go to your grandparents after my departure. You are truly loved here, and they will help you, as will I.”  
“Okay. I promise.” He rested his head on her shoulder for a minute. “Hm, David was right. You are like Mommy. She makes me promise stuff like that too.”  
“We had the same teachers growing up together and learned the same lessons. So, I am not surprised by what you say.” She walked back toward the house with him in her arms.  
Night had fallen completely when they reached the house and the only illumination came from the windows of lightened rooms. Night birds were singing softly and bugs were making their unique music and a cool breeze blew Mayan’s skirts as she walked. Jade relaxed further in her arms as he was carried back into the house. Neither of them wanted to break the silence, so they listened to the night sounds and the swish of Mayan’s dress until they reached the house.

“I know that it is still a bit early, child, but why don’t you go and ready yourself for bed. I’ll come and tell you of your mother while you relax for slumber.” He nodded and she set him on his feet. He scampered off to find his grandparents to bid them good night. David watched them from the den. For an instant he felt a twinge of jealousy toward the boy who’d become his brother. When Mayan’s eyes turned on him and he saw her tears for his brother’s suffering shimmer unshed in her eyes, he remembered the special bond that he, himself shared with her, and accepted that he’d have to share his Aunt Mayan with Jade, but he understood that their relationships toward her would always be special to her in their own ways, and he knew that Jade would always be closer to their mother.  
He smiled sadly at Mayan. “You seem to have cheered him up some. I hope it helps more than the visit with his friend did.”  
“You should join us upstairs, David, I am going to tell him of your mother as a young child tonight. I made a pact with him to tell him stories of her if he no longer looked for comfort in the wrong places. I worry that he was all alone.”  
“I figured that’s why he’s been going out there to see Moon. Believe it or not she’s a pretty intelligent animal.”  
“Intelligent or not he needed someone to go after him.” She stated.  
“I think you earned some points with him tonight, Aunt Mayan, probably not many, but he’d be easier to get along with if Mom were here.”  
“I pray that she gets here soon, David, and safely.” She watched as her nephew’s eyes fell to the floor and his jaw clenched tightly. Then he walked slowly away following Jade’s path.


	13. Chapter 13

********************************B5***************************

David lie awake long after the rest of the house had gone to sleep. Jade tossed and turned fitfully beside him as he had since Mayan had arrived and David moved into the room with Jade to give her a place to sleep. He fingered his pilot’s license as he had three nights previous. He chewed his lip coming to a sudden decision, and rose from the bed. He gathered his things as quietly as possible, but Jade still woke.  
“What are you doing, David?” He asked drowsily.  
“I’m getting stuff together. Cleaning up the room, since I can’t sleep.”  
“Hey, that’s my line. You’re leaving, I can feel it.” David began to deny Jade’s all to true words. “I’m goin’ with you David. If I could get out there we’d find Mommy and Daddy in no time. Lyta says that hyperspace heightens telepathic abilities.”  
“That’s what I’ve heard too, but you’re not going.”  
“Yes I am, or neither are you. I’ll wake the whole house, you could tie me up and I’d still be able to do it, and you know it.”  
“Fine, but hurry up.” He turned back to his packing as Jade got up and started to stuff his own bag.   
Jade sighed in relief as David gave in. He knew he couldn’t let David leave alone. He knew that they shouldn’t leave at all, but he wanted to help their Mom and Dad as much as David did.

********************************B5***************************

Minutes later they were seated in the cockpit of Mayan’s shuttle. David had made sure Jade was strapped in tight and was now running a series of pre-flight checks, he thanked Valen that all Minbari shuttles were of the same design. He noticed that everything was in order and they even had fully charged fuel cells. Mayan was ready for departure tomorrow, but if David had his way she’d be leaving on a different ship than this one. He smiled over at his brother, who’d expertly used his telepathy to lure away Mayan’s pilot and allowed them to take possession of the ship. He finally finished his preparations and started the ship’s engines.

********************************B5***************************

The sound of a shuttle’s engines igniting tore David Sheridan, the elder, out of sleep to full alert and the window of his second story bedroom. He swore, “What in the hell is that blasted pilot doing?”  
Nancy got up with a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. “David, you don’t think that the boys would--” She trailed off at his look of concern.  
“Damn kids, of course they would. My namesake is just exactly like his father, and Jade feels responsible for their disappearance. Come on. We have to at least try to stop them.” Mayan met them out in the hall.  
“Is that David out there?” Nancy nodded and the three of them ran out of the house just in time to see the shuttle lift off and head for space.  
“Damn it all!” David, the elder, shouted after the ship. “Come on we can still get hold of space control and have them held.” He headed back for the house. Once he came within sight of a wall monitor he called for space control. The monitor voice replied.  
“Sorry, maintenance in progress. No calls can be sent through for approximately forty-five minutes when maintenance is concluded.”  
“Damn it, damn it, damn it! How did they learn that dirty little trick?!”  
Mayan stepped forward, “If I may, Jade spent quite some time with Susan Ivanova. From what little I know of her that ‘trick’ sounds like her doing.”  
Nancy interrupted, “Susan would never call them out into the middle of a war zone.”  
“No, of course she wouldn’t. I meant that Jade may have learned of this from her. He is very fond of her and I don’t think David would have, in his haste, remembered the Comm and it’s usefulness.”

********************************B5***************************

“Good thing you thought of the Comm units, Jade. We’d have been caught and grounded, literally.” He looked proudly at his brother. “Nice work on the pilot too.”  
“Thank Susochke for the Comm trick. She’s the one that told me about it, but don’t thank me for getting the pilot off the ship. I didn’t like doing that, and I’m gonna apologize for it when we find Mommy and Daddy.”  
“Glad to hear that you feel that way. Mom’s friend Alisa, she’s a telepath too, says that using your gifts like that is wrong, unless its an emergency like this, but its still good to know you want to apologize for it.” Space control came over the link then and David motioned Jade to silence. “Good morning, Control. Shal Mayan decided to get an early start home and I have been authorized to get clearance to leave Earth and it’s space.”  
“Acknowledged, shuttle Te’la, hold position for a moment while we get you your clearance.” The minutes ticked by slowly, and Jade began to fidget. Finally the voice came back again. “Okay Te’La you’re cleared for lane six-niner-six. Have a good flight.”  
David grinned at his brother. “And thank you Control. We’ll see you next time.” He switched off the link and concentrated on piloting out of the atmosphere. He’d done it before, but he’d been with an instructor at the time. David knew that they’d be fine if he could just get them out of the atmosphere. “Stay in your seat until we enter hyperspace and keep you restraints on until I tell you its okay to release them.”  
“Do I look dumb to you, Davy. I don’t wanna fly all over the compartment while you fly like a drunken Gok.”  
“Hey, I’m a good pilot.”  
“If you were such a good pilot you’d ignore the passenger and watch your radar.” Jade lifted his hands to his eyes, after closing them tightly.  
David snapped his attention back to the screen in front of him, and saw why Jade’s eyes were closed so tightly. A ship was ahead of them in the lane, and David knew that it wasn’t supposed to be there. “Geez, what are they doing?!”   
“They’re fine David, but you’re too low. Grab some altitude.”  
“Okay, okay.” He pulled them up into the right slot again, and both boys sighed in relief. “See that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Jade only nodded with one of Ivanova’s death glares plastered to his face. “Thanks for the support.”  
“You’re welcome. Thanks for the heart attack.”   
“Ha, Ha. Okay, were almost out of the atmosphere.” He watched the ozone layer as he ascended through it.  
“Wow,” came the awed voice of his small brother, “that’s the coolest thing I ever saw.”  
Smiling David rejoined, “so far anyway.” That earned him a puzzled look from Jade and he chuckled. “Never mind. You’ll understand when your older.” Jade shook his head disdainfully, but David’s attention was on his next task. “In twenty minutes we will be far enough out to jump, and then we’ll be on our way.”  
Jade smiled. “Cool.”

********************************B5***************************

In reality, David waited thirty-five minutes before making the jump to hyperspace. He hoped they were doing the right thing. He was as worried about Jade’s dreams as anyone, but followed his heart as his parents had taught him to. He even thought briefly about contacting Ivanova, but worried that she’d make them go back to the farm.  
Jade, he noticed, had drifted off to sleep still in the restraints with his backpack and his bear clutched tightly in his hands. David fed in their coordinates and set the ship on auto pilot and unstrapped himself. He then unfastened the straps holding his brother in. Jade didn’t even stir as David took the bag and slung it over his own shoulder, or as he was lifted and carried out of the cockpit still holding fast to the bear. David made his way aft to the sleeping quarters, hoping against hope that his bunk was still in the room. He sighed when he saw the mattress on the floor and settled Jade on one side of it. He lie down on the other and drifted off.

********************************B5***************************

“HE DID WHAT?!” Susan nearly split Nancy’s ears as she shrieked the question.  
“He and David left on Shal Mayan’s ship around three this morning. We tried to get control to hold them, but someone set the Comm system for routine self-maintenance, and it was tied up for more than forty-five minutes. By the time we got the call through it was just barely too late. Control said they jumped to hyperspace at four fifteen EST.”  
“Well, at least we know Jade learns fast. I told him a story about doing that to prevent any calls from going out of Babylon Five a long time ago.”  
“He definitely paid attention. We think we know what they’re up to, but we aren’t sure.”  
“Please, those two are going to Centauri Prime to look for John and Delenn. I’ll be on the first Whitestar I can get my hands on. If I can catch them they’ll spend some time in the brig. Like the whole trip back to your place. That’ll teach them a lesson about the consequences involved in sneaking out and stealing a shuttle.”  
“That’s a bit harsh, but they do need to be taught. Besides I feel like I could ring both of their necks myself. I don’t care what kind of cute charms they both have.”  
“Nice to know I have your support. I’ll sign off now, I need to prepare for a trip.”  
“Right. Find them, Susan. They’ll be in grave danger if it gets out that they are on their own. I’m sure the Drakh would love to use them as bargaining chips.”  
“I’d say don’t worry, but it wouldn’t help so I’ll just say I’ll do my best.” She saluted and cut the transmission. Sighing in exasperation she went in search of Marcus.  
She found him in the training center with a group of rangers. It looked like a briefing that Marcus had turned into an exercise in pike skills. She watched silently until he finished, and approached him as the others filed out to return to their ships. “Hey, I need to talk to you. Privately.”  
“All right I’ll be there in a minute.”

********************************B5***************************

“WHAT?!” Ivanova smiled at Marcus’s reaction.  
“That’s about what I said too, when Nancy told me. Apparently our hold-son and nephew decided to go in search of their parents on their own. David and Jade left early this morning. They are well on their way to Centauri Space, a place that is less than safe right now, and I need to get to them as fast as I can.”  
“Right, hopefully you’ll find them before they or we find John and Delenn. They’ll both kill us if anything happens to either of their boys.” He sighed. “I guess you’ll be leaving as soon as you grab a few uniforms from the closet.”  
“Faster than that. I had some of my things transferred to a Whitestar while I came to find you.” She pulled him into her arms. “Can you handle things here on your own?”  
“I’m sure I can. If I can’t I’ll call in some back-up and resign my command.”  
“I love you, you know.”  
“I know. Rest assured that the feeling is returned to you one hundred and fifty percent.” He leaned forward to capture her lips. The kiss said good bye and hello all at the same time. Reluctantly Susan pulled away and stood.  
“I should get going. See you when I get back.”  
“I await your return with an immense anticipation. Go get those two. Be firm and gentle in your disciplinary actions.”  
“I will. I’m going to hug them both to me gently in relief when I see them. Then I’ll firmly grab them both by an ear and drag them to the brig. Stealing a shuttle belonging to a highly revered poet is a crime.” She smiled playfully. “And I’m going to make sure that those two never forget that.” Marcus smiled at her retreating back.  
“Hey,” He called before she was out of range, and she turned to look at him, “I have an Ancient Egyptian Blessing with your name on it.” She merely smiled and walked on.

********************************B5***************************

David woke to find that Jade was no longer in the sleeping compartment. The bear that Jade carried everywhere was in his place. David rose slowly and went in search of his brother. He found Jade in the galley preparing a small meal of something that didn’t look appetizing at all.  
“What the hell is that?” He asked as the odor wafting off it made him grimace.  
“You aren’t supposed to talk like that, and its food for a friend.”   
“A friend? What kind of friend?” David watched Jade’s reaction. The boy sucked his bottom lip in his mouth and chewed while glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. “Don’t tell me you brought the rat.”  
“He’s a ferret not a rat. They’re a part of the weasel family, and his name is Baldor.” Jade set the bowl on the floor and unzipped his backpack. A small white head with brown stripes over the eyes popped curiously out to look around. Jade made little chittering noises and the ferret slipped out of the bag and over the deck to the bowl of food to begin eating hungrily. “He won’t be any trouble David, I promise. He’s just like your gok.”  
“You don’t fight fair. Okay, okay, but you’re going to care for him.”  
“Of course I am.”  
David thought the subject had been discussed enough and changed direction. “How did you sleep?”   
“Better than you think. I didn’t wake up for more than twelve whole hours. Look at the chrono.” Jade indicated the clock on the cooking equipment. David glanced over and then did a double take as he noticed that they had slept for fourteen hours.  
“Wow. I guess we were both exhausted.” Jade nodded at him.  
“And now we’re hungry, David.”  
David smiled at his brother’s not so subtle hint. “All right I’ll fix us some breakfast. Sit down at the table and don’t let the rat crawl on it.”  
“He won’t. He knows better. I had a talk with ‘im.”  
“Sure, Jade. Just keep him off the table top.” Jade nodded hiding his smile. He really had ‘spoken’ to the creature, insuring that he wouldn’t climb onto the table or get into their food supplies, by setting a telepathic suggestion that there was danger in those places that the ferret was not to be allowed to wander.

********************************B5***************************

Montoya strode into the medcenter of the nearest underground stronghold to the rendezvous area. He bypassed the doctor’s station and went straight to KayLynn’s private room. He pressed the signal, announced himself, and waited for her to admit him. The door opened to reveal her propped up in the bed watching as a nurse rewrapped her arms with bandages.  
“Good morning.” She looked up as he walked closer.  
“Hi. It looks like we’ll be here for a while yet. The Whitestar sent to extract us was attacked in orbit and we know that they were damaged and are trying to make repairs. We don’t know if they’ve managed to escape safely or if they even now float in space returned to the molecules they came from.”  
“If it helps I hope they made it safely away.”  
“So do I.” He watched as the nurse left and checked the room for anything suspicious as he always did. Once, satisfied he continued, “I learned that the ones on board were the President and Entil’zha. They have gone missing. The fleet fears them lost in hyperspace. They have sent ships to search the area for them, but there is not much hope.”  
“What about a telepath? Telepathy is greatly enhanced by hyperspace.”  
“Apparently, there is one en route, unfortunately he has more than a telepathic interest in his parents. I have just been informed that two people Entil’zha and President Sheridan hold dear have stolen a shuttle to come looking for the missing Whitestar. I fear greatly for them. The Darkness would not hesitate to use them against their parents and the fleet.” He paced at the foot of her bed as he spoke.  
“What if we could find them first? We could send some of my people to intercept them before they reach the danger zone.”  
“No it’s already to late for that. They have been in hyperspace for fifteen or more hours. They will be here shortly and all we can do is hope they aren’t captured, and if they are get them out before something horrible happens to them.”  
“We will keep our eyes open and our minds focused, and we will help them if that time comes.” She consoled him, and he stopped his pacing to sit at her side.

********************************B5***************************

David sat in the pilot’s seat once again. Jade sat beside him, strapped in with the ferret in his hands. His mind however was not in the shuttle. He was following his bond with their mother to the damaged Whitestar that he felt somewhere nearby.

********************************B5***************************

 

Unknown to both boys, a second Whitestar was following them. Susan Ivanova sat in its command chair. As soon as she’d caught up to them and surmised that they were safe an idea had formed in her mind. John and Delenn might not approve of her allowing the boys to continue on their course, but she saw it as the only course that might help them discover the lost Whitestar. She fully intended to take both of them to the brig as soon as the reunion of their family was concluded. She just hoped that the universe was following the same plan as she was.

********************************B5***************************

Jade searched hyperspace with the determination of a bloodhound. He had been searching for what seemed to him like days. Though they’d only been in Centauri space for five hours. Finally, after the eighth hour of searching David shook his little brother out of the trance and took him to the galley to eat. “You can’t expect to be successful the first time out. We just got here and they’ve been drifting for more than a week. You need to eat and rest your mind for a while. We’ll try again in the morning.”  
“Okay.” The single word answer, with no protest either preceding or following, was a testament to how tired Jade really was. David brought the food to the table as Jade prepared the food for his ferret. Then all three inhabitants of the shuttle ate in silence and once finished David took all the plates and utensils to the cleaning unit and carried his brother to the sleeping chamber. Jade didn’t protest as David put him to bed, and as soon as his dark hair was on the pillow his eyes were closed and he was sound asleep.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn woke with the most peculiar feeling that someone was calling out to her. She sat up in their bed as John rolled in his sleep beside her. As she looked around the room she thought she felt it again. A few minutes later she felt it change, getting stronger. All at once she recognized the feeling, as Jade’s mental call. She thought of him as she always had when the call had come before. She felt the call respond to her thoughts. It had been an adjustment to have someone constantly touching her mind, but after a while when his contact became less and less she found she missed it. She knew she wasn’t really a telepath, but Jade’s constantly seeking the comfort of her mind had created a psudo-telepathy within her own mind. She had learned to think back at him when he called her. She couldn’t touch his mind, but by thinking of him or of what she wanted to say to him she could communicate with him.  
The familiar pressure came again, and she turned to shake John into awareness.  
“What is it, Delenn?” He said in a waking hazy voice.  
“Jade is calling out to me. It is as though he is nearby, John.”  
“Delenn, it has to be a dream. Jade and David are safely tucked away on Earth remember.”  
“Of course I do, John, but I am not imagining this. I should know by now what his mind touching mine feels like.” She chided him with a raised eyebrow. Before he could answer her the captain’s voice came over the audio link.  
“President Sheridan, we have detected a shuttle off to port. It appears to be a small craft meant for four or less passengers. They are not close enough yet for short range communications to reach them. Should we use the signal or save our power?”  
“What direction are they moving?”  
“In a generally straight line that should take them in range of our remaining communications.” The contact came again more insistently, and Delenn flinched at the urgency she felt in the contact.  
“Then try to hold position as best as you can. I’ll be there shortly.” The link clicked off. “What is it, Delenn?”  
“The contact is getting stronger and more urgent. I felt a great sense of emergency as though something important were going to happen.”  
“I feel an urgency too, but not that kind. We need to get to the bridge to be there to make contact with-”  
“David and Jade! John, they are in the shuttle. I thought back like I have with Jade before and he pushed again. He told me that we will be rescued soon. You’re right. Let’s go to the bridge.” Both sprang from the bed and dressed hurriedly. By the time they took their seats the shuttle Te’La was within communications range.  
“Mom, Dad?!” David paused waiting for the reply.  
“We’re here son. What I want to know is just how in the hell you got out here?”  
Jade’s voice filtered through the comm as the view screen came to life, and Jade and David’s images stared at them. “We sorta stole Shal Mayan’s shuttle Daddy. I hope she’s not too mad, but we hadda find you. I knew I could if I just got into hyperspace.” John noted Delenn’s sharp intake of breath as she looked up and beheld her small son’s wan, gaunt countenance.  
“You two should not have come out here. No matter how glad I am to know that we’ve been found it’s just too dangerous for the both of you. Now I want you to dock and allow us to decide what to do with you.”  
“We sorta didn’t think this far ahead Dad.” David said. “All we wanted was to find you.”  
“Mr. President, I have a second ship on-screen. Sir, it is a Whitestar.” Said the Ranger who’d contacted them.  
At that Susan’s voice filtered through the comm. “John, is that you I hear bellowing orders as usual?”  
“Yes, what are you doing here?” He asked defensively.  
“Apprehending two young shuttle thieves, for a highly regarded Minbari poet.”  
“I’d say you found them Susan, and much more. Do you think you could give us a little help getting back to civilization?”  
“Sure. Get the boys docked and we’ll tow you all back to Earth.”  
“Daddy,” Jade’s apprehensive voice came over the Link “the Dark Men.”  
John looked from Jade’s widened eyes to Delenn’s now pale countenance. “Scan the area for Drakh ships, now!”  
“Got them, sir. One cruiser and about twenty fighter craft.”  
“David, you get that shuttle docked now!”  
“I can’t, Dad, I haven’t gotten that far in my lessons yet.”  
John shook his head in aggravation. “Damn it, what in hell possessed you two to come out here without an experienced pilot?”  
“I already said we just wanted to find you. I mean if you could talk me through it I know I can dock, that’s what I’d hoped would happen, but I don’t think we have time for that now. Besides, no pilot would have disobeyed your orders and you know it. General, get a grapple attached to the damaged Whitestar, and get those people to safety.” David’s voice held a command presence that his parents had never heard from him before.  
John stared at the view screen in bewilderment. ‘What is he thinking now?’ Then he realized the Drakh ships were in range to hear whatever transmissions went between the three ships, and at the moment they didn’t know about all the high profile people on board the ships.  
Susan realized the same thing about the same time as John did, and acknowledged the order. She knew he was right. She had to get John and Delenn’s ship out of here. David and Jade had power and were undamaged. “Okay, shuttle. I’ll get them hooked up, but your work is finished head home before company crashes this party. We’ll see you there.”

********************************B5***************************

David acknowledged her order even as she carried out his. He started the shuttle moving back the way they had come. He’d do his best to run interference, though; if it came down to it. He watched his instruments warily as one Whitestar grappled the other. All too soon the Drakh ships on approach made it clear they were going to destroy one or both ships.  
“Jade, strap yourself in and put that damn rat in you pack. We’re going to run interference.”  
“Okay. C’mon Baldor into the pack.” He shoved his little friend into the bag and climbed into his seat with it in his hands. He then set it beside him and strapped them both in all the while holding securely to a strap ensuring it’s safety.  
David fired the jets and propelled them between the two Whitestars toward the oncoming Drakh ships. A squeal of protest came over the comm. David recognized it as his mother’s voice. Then his father and Susan yelled ordering him to leave the area and head for Earth. At that point he silenced the comm, and concentrated on his piloting. Jade for his part kept his mouth silent and his eyes clamped shut.  
The shuttle lurched to the forefront between the Whitestars and the Drakh. David fired a small burst from the meager weapons system and, surprisingly struck the lead fighter. It and four of its companions turned toward the shuttle. As the first shots struck the equally meager shielding, Jade let out a terrified squeal, and David berated himself wondering what he’d just accomplished exactly.   
“Pardon my mouth, Jade, but OH SHIT what was I thinking!!!”  
“I won’t tell Mom if you just get us outta here. Try to dock with Mom and Dad. I don’t care if we crash just get us on the Whitestar. Please!!” His voice was pleading. David glanced over to see his brother’s eyes still clinched tightly shut, and tears leaked from between the pinched lids to roll down the sides of his face.  
“I can’t the fighters are between us and the Whitestars now. I’ll do my best to get us outta here though.”  
“I think that maybe leaving Gramma and Grampa’s was a big mistake. A really huge, bad mistake.”  
“Yeah, looks like it and if we get outta this Mom and Dad are gonna kill both of us. Oh shit!” He yelled as a ship showed up on his aft sensors. “Hold on it’s gonna get bumpy.”

 

********************************B5***************************

“Susan, drop the line! Go help the boys!” John cried the order.  
“It’s too late John look at the view.” She waited for his reaction with his strategic expertise she didn’t wait long.  
“Son of a bitch, they’re herding the shuttle.” Delenn came to stand near and he gripped her hand. “Susan, drop it now! Forget us and save the boys! You can blow a hole in their line and give David a place to go. They’re being herded onto the cruiser, damn it! Go help them!”  
Susan heard the pleading and the fear in her friend’s voice. The fear she herself was experiencing for the two boys on the shuttle, but she was still rational enough to know that there was little she or anyone else could do. “John, it’s too late to help them. If I thought it would make the slightest difference in the chain of events out there I would, but John, set aside your personal feelings and really look at the maneuver they just pulled. Even if we took out a couple of them there’s no where to go, and David is too panicked right now to see the way out, if we could make one.”  
Her voice was as even as she could make it while she spoke to her friend, and the little calm and rationale she possessed snapped him out of his haze of fear and dread. He knew she was right, and he knew that the only options left were to surrender, retreat, or fight and probably lose. He stood and took Delenn’s trembling form in his arms holding tightly to his lifeline as he gave Susan the order to retreat.  
Susan sighed in relief as John’s order came over the link. A relieved sigh that was also filled with fear and grief. ‘May God stand in all the empty places where you both must now walk.’ She thought toward the shuttle about to be overtaken by the main cruiser. She jerked when Jade’s consciousness touched back.  
‘Thank you, Susochke. I know you’d help if you could. I’m sorry we did this, but I hadda find Mommy. I knew I was the only one who had a good chance of finding them. Now it looks like more of my dreams are gonna come true. I’m so sorry. Don’t feel bad because it’s not your fault, and it’s not Mommy’s or Daddy’s fault either. I know you’ll all find us again. I love you, and like Mama said in her message. If I don’t see you again in this life I will see you in the place where no shadows fall.’ She felt his presence exit her mind and as this happened her eyes, which had begun to fill at his words, overflowed with her grief.

 

********************************B5***************************

‘Mommy, I need you to promise that you won’t let Susochke be mad at herself. This isn’t her fault, and help Daddy too.’ Delenn looked up at the small face on the view screen. ‘He’s gonna hurt because he said to leave us, but there’s nothing else you can do. Don’t be mad at him, and don’t let him be mad at him either. We love you, and we hadda try and find you. We hadda get you back safely, and I guess that we accomplished our mission.   
‘You are going to get home safely. You have to. David and I know that you won’t stop looking until you find us, so don’t worry we’ll never give up until we see you again. I still miss you and Dad, so does David, but since we started looking for you. Since we left Gramma and Grampa’s to do something, my nightmares weren’t so bad. I liked doing something to help instead of sitting and waiting for a report or a call or something like that. So, don’t feel bad.   
‘I know you’re gonna miss us and you’ll worry about what is happening to us, but if my dreams are right we won’t be hurt too badly. I wish I could hug you right now more than anything, ‘cause even though I know we aren’t gonna be hurt real bad, I’m still scared. Faith Manages I guess. See ya later we are almost in the ship now, and these guys are probably telepathic so I don’t want them to hear me talkin’ to you. I love you Mama, and tell Dad too.’ As she watched Jade raised the index and middle fingers of his right hand and drew them in a straight line down the screen, and then it went blank.

********************************B5***************************

John felt Delenn jerk in his arms, and she began to sob into his chest. He’d seen Jade’s gesture, tightened his grip even further around his wife, and called to Susan once again. “Let the captain over here know when we’re in the clear. Delenn and I are going to be out of touch for a while.”  
“You got it, John. For what its worth, I wish I’d grabbed those two as soon as I spotted the shuttle, but I knew that they were our best hope of finding you. Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered though, by the time I found them they were on their way here. I am so sorry, John.” Her voice was filled with tears and defeat, and John cringed at the sound.  
“I know Susan, I know. Don’t beat yourself up, there was no other choice. If they hadn’t found us this time they’d have run away to try again. Just get us home so we can send out a rescue team.”  
“We’re on the way.” She didn’t tell him that she’d launched a stealth fighter to follow the cruiser to its base. She would wait until they were back with the fleet and face to face with no possibility of the wrong ears hearing them.   
John cut the Link and pulled his wife away from the bridge, leaving instructions with the captain that they were not to be disturbed under any circumstances, until he heard otherwise. He then guided her to their staterooms and sat her on the couch, and they both let fear and worry and grief reign long into the night.

********************************B5***************************

Jade released his restraints and went to stuff as many of his things into his pack as he could make fit. He finally decided that his bear and his ferret were the most important things with him and they both fit easily, with room left for a few clothes items. So maybe he’d smell like a ferret for a while. He didn’t mind.   
David followed him and gaped at his brother’s actions. “What are you doing? They’ll just take your pack.”  
“No. They. Won’t. I won’t let them. I’m a telepath remember. I’ll hide it from them by making them overlook it. I can do the same thing for you if you have a pack. I can’t hide the suitcase though. It has to be where it can look like a jacket or a piece of your clothes. That’s the only way others would believe the illusion.”  
“Are you sure you can do it?”   
Jade tossed him an annoyed look. “Of course, I’m sure, silly. This was one of the first things that Miss Lyta taught me. I’ve had enough practice that I am comfortable with it. Besides if I can’t, what’s gonna happen to Baldor.”  
“As much as I despise that rat, I don’t want to find out.” David replied as the ship lurched suddenly. “I guess we’re docked, or captured. Whatever you want to call it. We should at least try to hide.”  
“I know I can hide from them, but I can fit in places you can’t, David, and I won’t leave you all alone with them. I won’t let my dream come true.”  
“You’ve had dreams about me?”  
Jade nodded as his looked away from his brother. “A few. The ones that I was with you always ended that we were hurt and stuff but we get home alive. Then there are ones that I’m not with you and you don’t live. So, no matter what you say or what happens I’m staying with you because Mommy and Dad’ll be sad if you die. So would I.”  
“Thanks, little brother.” David gathered Jade into his arms and sat to wait for their captors to cut through the hatch.


	14. Chapter 14

********************************B5***************************

It took about four hours for the heavy steel hatch to drop. The warriors who were sent into the shuttle searched high and low for the captain, but all they found were two young humans. The highest ranking warrior gave his men a signal to take them out. The two didn’t struggle, and it appeared they were alone. [Take them to the captain.] He ordered in a gruff, raspy voice. His men pulled the two apart and pushed them out of the small ship into a large docking bay. Jade thought it looked more like a cavern than any bay he’d ever seen. He looked around them as his eyes adjusted to the gloom of the Drakh ship, and noticed that theirs was not the only shuttle in the bay, nor were the shuttles the only ships in the bay. There were fighters of all sorts, as well as ground cars and ships that Jade had never seen before, but none of them looked like the Drakh fighters he’d seen outside.  
They were herded down companionways where the walls looked slimy. Trails of muck drooled down the walls to puddle on the floor. Jade looked up at David, who was wrinkling his nose at the odd smell they both presumed came from the goo. Eventually, they stood before a portal. Jade thought of it that way because the door was circular and it twisted open instead of rising and lowering.   
Behind the portal lay the bridge of the Drakh cruiser. The captain stood in front of a view port looking at the spot where the Whitestars had disappeared in the distance. As they were pushed up to him the captain turned and scrutinized his prisoners. He first studied David then he gave a snort and moved to Jade. He didn’t even bother with an examination. Both boys were surprised when he spoke in Interlac the galactic standard language, his voice as raspy as the first who’d spoken, but with a different tone and timbre. “They are nothing but children. Where is the crew of the ship, the pilot, the navigator. The Humans would never let one so young pilot a ship into our space.”  
The one who’d lead the team that had escorted Jade and David spoke also in Earth Standard. “There are no others, master. These were the only ones aboard the ship.”  
He switched back to his own language, which David had learned from his mother and tutors, [I want these two questioned then. Find out who they are and where the crew is hiding.]   
[Yes, Master.] The team leader answered. He then gave an order to the ones guarding David and Jade, and the boys were escorted from the room.

 

********************************B5***************************

Delenn jerked awake as the link buzzed. “Yes, what is it,” she said as she became aware of the fact that she and John had fallen asleep sitting on the couch.  
“Entil’zha, we are on our way to the rendezvous with the fleet and clear of the Drakh at this time. General Ivanova said to inform you she wishes to convene a meeting with you, President Sheridan and Anla’Shok Cole as soon as we have reached the fleet.”  
“All right. Inform her that we will meet her on the cruiser in our state rooms.”  
“Yes, Entil’zha.” He signed off and Delenn turned to her still slumbering husband. His face was creased with worry lines, and there were still trails from the tears he’d shed a few hours before. Knowing she looked the same she pulled him closer to her and held him while he slept. Protecting him from the dreams she knew he was dreaming. Dreams of the inability to do anything for the two most important people in their lives. She had assured him that he had done what he could, and he’d done the same for her. Now they just needed to both accept that they had. He moaned in his sleep, and she stroked his hair. He began to twitch and struggle and she woke him softly. He buried his face between her breasts and cried again as she whispered soothing words in his ear, and held him to her.   
Once he calmed they didn’t speak, but she stood and taking both his hands in hers led him to their bed. There she sat down and propped herself against the wall and pulled him into her arms. She sat and held her husband as she had both her sons before and sang softly to him until he slid down to rest his head on her thigh, asleep. She spent the rest of that night watching her husband making sure his rest was undisturbed and untroubled.

********************************B5***************************

They’d been questioned for hours and hours it seemed. Finally, Jade and David were pushed into a new room aboard the ship. It reeked of fear and blood and urine. David was roughed up, but unharmed. Jade didn’t even have a mark on him.  
“What did they ask you Jade?”  
“Just where the adult crew was. I told them that you were the crew, but they didn’t believe me.” He sighed as he sat in the middle of the cell. The walls had the same goo dripping off of them and the one table-like object in the room was disgusting. He didn’t know what the stains were on its surface but he didn’t want to sit on it for fear that what ever the undried spots were would be harmful to his skin. David had had much the same idea and they both now sat on one of the clean spots on the deck. “Did they hurt you, David?”  
“They got mad when I insulted them and pushed me around a little but it wasn’t too bad. I’m just glad you’re okay. When they split us up I was scared they’d hurt you.”  
“Nah, I don’t think they will until they find out who we are.” He replied calmly.  
David was puzzled by this and watched his little brother for a while to see if he showed any signs of stress at the thoughts he was sure to be having, but Jade sat quietly and pulled his backpack into his lap. He unzipped the zipper and let his small friend poke a head out to look around. He stroked the little head and scratched behind Baldor’s ears while he too looked around them.   
Eventually he said, “I don’t see any vents here, David. I don’t see any openings at all except for the door. How does air get in here if they don’t have a vent?”  
“I don’t know, Jade. Someone told me, once, that the Drakh have biotech ships. Like the Shadows had. Maybe they don’t need vents.” Jade nodded and went back to his study of the room. “How can you be so calm at this, of all times, Jade? Aren’t you scared of them?”  
“Of course, I am, but what good will it do if they know I’m scared?”  
“It might save you from a beating. I don’t think they’d hesitate if you didn’t tell them what they want to know.”  
“I don’t want to get hit anymore, but it never helped me before that I was scared. He still hit me even when I was so scared I was shaking all over. If he didn’t care, why would they?”  
“Good point. I don’t want you to get hit either.” He smiled at his brother, and Jade pushed Baldor back into the backpack and rezipped it swinging it to his back as he scooted closer to David. “You should get some sleep, Jade. I have a feeling that we’re both gonna need all the strength we can get.”  
Jade yawned and nodded leaning over to rest against his older brother. David wrapped an arm around Jade as he drifted to sleep.

********************************B5***************************

It took an entire day Earth Standard Time for the Drakh ship to reach its destination. Jade and David were both unconscious for the trip to the Drakh stronghold. If he’d been aware Jade would have noticed that they were on the world in his dreams. As it was his dreams were filled with images of Susan being hurt, some were of the Dark Men cutting her until her clothes were soaked with her blood, another time she’d been shot, and then in a different scenario the ship she boarded had exploded into a fireball. Marcus showing up to rescue them only to die, or his own father coming to get them but none of them making it out. Even the sedatives that the Drakh had given them wore off with the dreams.  
Jade awoke just as he and David were deposited into a familiar cell. There was a familiar barred widow and familiar stone walls. He sat beside David who was still drugged and didn’t move. After a while David stirred and Jade helped his brother sit up and told him that nothing had happened so far.  
“Do you know where we are?”  
“Not exactly, I saw this place in my nightmares before, but I don’t know where it is.”  
“Okay, at least you know that much. Did they find out about our packs after they drugged you?”  
Jade shook his head, “Nah, Just because I’m not aware doesn’t mean I forget to hide stuff. After this long its kinda like a mantra in my mind. I am already feeling the headache from the constant use to hide them, but I don’t want to loose our stuff.”  
“Good, I think--” He broke off as the cell door opened. A Drakh soldier entered and gestured that they were to exit. They looked at each other and then preceded their guard.

********************************B5***************************

John and Delenn spent the entire trip to the rendezvous in their staterooms already making plans to search for their sons and attempt a rescue. They were so enamored of their task that the notification of their arrival was a surprise to them both.  
“Mr. President, Entil’zha. We have arrived at the fleet. General Ivanova has maneuvered us into position for docking with the Star of Valen.” Delenn acknowledged the notification and she and John gathered their meager luggage and made their way to the shuttle that would carry them to the cruiser before the Whitestar docked for repairs.  
After disembarking they made their way to the rooms they’d left one month earlier. John carried his bags into the bedroom and then helped Delenn carry her own. “We’ll unpack all this and then call Susan. Marcus should know we are aboard by now so he’ll be here soon.”  
Both were exhausted and Delenn only nodded in consent. They set about unpacking efficiently and by the time Marcus buzzed the door they were sitting on the couch curled around each other once more going over rescue plans. “Enter,” Delenn called unwilling to leave her husband even for a moment.  
The door swung aside and Marcus walked in with an arm around Susan’s waist. She looked as exhausted as Delenn herself felt. There were dark circles under her eyes and they were puffy as if she’d been crying. When she saw her friend’s distress Delenn stood and enfolded her in a comforting embrace. Susan began sobbing on Delenn’s shoulder and apologizing between heaving sobs. Then John was with them and had his arms around both of them.  
“Susan, stop doing this to yourself. We couldn’t help them. You did what you thought was right, and I stand by your decision. Don’t blame yourself. Delenn and I have taken responsibility on ourselves. I should have known you’d do this, Susan. Jade is as much your child as he is ours. I am sorry we cut you off. You have as much a stake in those two as we do, and we focused on ourselves the whole trip.”  
Ivanova caught her breath and pulled away from the both of them. “No, it’s right that you two had time alone. I needed the time too. I just can’t accept the fact that I let them continue to look for you in the shuttle. I should have pulled them into the Whitestar as soon as I saw them and then continued the search. I, John, I’m sorry.”  
“What’s done is done, Susan. You’re not to blame. We’re not to blame. To tell you the truth, and I know this is going to sound bad, the boys are to blame. If they’d stayed with Mom and Dad like they were supposed to they wouldn’t be in the position they’re in.”  
Delenn looked at him, shocked. “You are right John that does sound ‘bad.’ In fact it’s horrible.”  
“I know, and I’m sorry, but its true. Let’s not argue about it now though. Look, right now we need to get to work trying to find them.”  
Susan interrupted him, “That’s what I wanted to talk to you both about. I left a fighter to pursue the Drakh ships and let us know where they took the boys. Actually, I have some, depending on the way you look at it, good news. Anla’Shok Baker checked in before we docked and said that the Drakh stopped off at Centauri Prime the day after the skirmish and a shuttle headed for the surface of the planet. Then the ship moved on. He is still trailing it. I asked him if he’d be able to replenish his air. He said that the fighter was equipped to attach itself to another ship and tap into its air recycling systems, using its atmosphere to replenish his own air just in case the boys are still on board.”  
“So, we need to contact Montoya and have him look for the boys there on Centauri Prime, and if they are there we need to send an inconspicuous ship, this time, to get them.” Delenn looked hopeful. “In the mean time, we continue here with the fleet and our plans.”  
“I agree. Here are the reports of our activities since your departure.” Marcus handed John a data crystal.

********************************B5***************************

Montoya sat beside the bed in medical center spread out around him were the members of his team that had been shot to prevent the keepers control over them. The rest of the rangers, as few as they were, were comfortably tucked away in a safe house somewhere in the city.  
Kay’Lynn’s burns were still draining the clear fluids that all burns leak, and the doctors wanted her to stay in their care as long as they continued to fill and leak the fluid. She was currently sleeping between the un and re-wrapping of her damaged arm. He held her unhurt right hand. The doctors said that once the burns were healed she would have to start intensive training to regain the use of her left hand.  
He had just dozed off himself when one of the orderlies entered and crossed the room to his side. “Sir, a transmission came through an hour ago, and we have been unable to decrypt it and decipher the message. We thought that maybe you could try your hand at it. I will stay with her, if you would go to the communications shack.”  
Montoya looked over at Kay’ Lynn again then nodded and stood. “Tell her I’ll be back soon.” He left the room and made his way to the shack that housed the communications equipment. He was escorted in and the lady on duty gave him a data crystal.  
“There is an open terminal around the other side of this stuff. You can try it there.” She looked back to her screens and shrugged. “What the hell, I’ll show you, and if you don’t mind I’ll watch while you try it. We’ve had some of our best people try it out and they were baffled.”  
“Fine, but if I ask you to leave you must do so without hesitation.”  
“Deal.” She stepped aside and he sat in front of the screen slipping the crystal in its slot as he did. He immediately recognized the pass code that appeared.  
“I’m afraid I need privacy, ma’am. This is from my superiors.”  
“I’m gone. Just call out if you need something.”  
Montoya didn’t answer her as he began decoding the message.

********************************B5***************************

Two hours later he was shocked to see that the message came not from Sech Turval, but Entil’zha herself. She was asking him to scout the planet in search of her sons. They had been captured by the Drakh who were still using Centauri Prime as a base, and it was suspected the boys had been taken there.  
Montoya sent a reply that he would carry out this mission and keep them informed as to his findings. He then returned to Kay’Lynn’s side long enough to tell her he would be gone for a while and he would check in periodically. That he had a mission which he could not discuss with her, and she should get her rest and regain her strength. He then took his leave and went to the accommodations of the rest of his team. He explained to them the mission and sent them out to search for the boys, assigning everyone certain areas of the planet that they were familiar with from the recent mission.

********************************B5***************************

Jade looked around, finding that he was alone in their cell. He looked out the small barred window and saw a starry sky. Letting his gaze lower he noticed the flickering of flames and could feel the heat of them on the slight breeze that entered between the bars. He stood on his tip-toes to get a better look at the flames and realized that a city was burning, not five miles from his cell. He heard the lock click behind him and instinctively dropped to the floor pretending to sleep. Someone was pushed into the cell and then the door closed. He heard a moan and looked cautiously toward the being that had been pushed into the cell. It was too dark for him to make out who or what the being was. He slowly reached out with his mind and recognized the presence. It was David. Jade scrambled to his side. “What happened, David?”  
“I...don’t...I...” his pain-filled voice drifted off to unconsciousness.  
Jade sat beside his older brother, and watched the window. David began to shiver beside him and Jade went searching around the room once more. He found a small mat with a blanket atop it. He pulled the blanket over to David and covered him with it. Then he went back to the window and screamed for John at the top of his lungs. He used Adronato in hopes that their captors would not understand him. He screamed until he felt David’s hand on his leg.  
“Give it up Jade. You’ll only hurt your throat more, you can barely speak now. No one will find us here.”  
“I have to try, David. The Dark Men are gonna kill you if they keep beating you like they have been.” He looked his brother over. “Your nose has to be broken, and your eyes are black. David I know it hurts you to breathe, you’re all raspy when you’re asleep. We gotta get outta here before they come back again. I’m not much better off than you. My head hurts bad from hidin’ our packs, and blocking their scans. All I want is to go home and be safe and sleep until I can’t sleep any longer.” He knew David was right; his throat did hurt and his voice was giving out on him, but he felt like he was doing something to help.  
“I know, Jade, but no one is near enough to hear you yelling.”  
“I gotta try, David.” Was Jade’s repeated statement. David shrugged and lie back down. Jade went back to his task calling out the window for help.

********************************B5***************************

Unknown to them, they had been found, Anla’Shok Kendrick sat across from their cell and watched it with a set of binoculars while he waited for Montoya and the others to arrive. He’d been watching the manor house for a week before he’d found the barred window just above ground level. He’d sneaked closer and heard the small hoarse call for help. He’d battled with himself deciding whether to respond or not, and finally decided to wait until Montoya arrived.  
He heard a slight call from the bushes to his left, and answered in the customary code. Soon Montoya was beside him, “You’ve found them.”  
“Yes sir. They are in the basement of the manor house. It is the only window with bars. I heard the younger one, Jade, I believe, calling for help in Adronato. He has been screaming for some time I fear. His voice is almost gone.”  
“We have to get them out of there. Entil’zha needs to be informed. I will take care of that while we wait for the rest of the team to arrive. I will be back in the morning. Don’t try anything until I get back.”  
“Yes sir.” Montoya eased back away from Kendrick and made his way back to the city. 

********************************B5***************************

Montoya slipped down the hidden entrance to Kay’Lynn’s city. His first stop was Kay’Lynn’s room to check on her and the other rangers even then it was a quick peek through the window on the door. Then he went straight to the com shack.  
“Hello there,” he greeted the man on duty. “I need to contact my superiors.”  
“Sounds fine to me. I got orders says to cooperate with whatever you want.”  
“That’s a relief, and surprising. Anyway I don’t have time I need privacy for this call.”  
“I’ll be outside then.” The thin young man stood and vacated the room.  
Montoya set to work encrypting a signal to the fleet. Finally, it looked clean and untraceable. He signaled the Star of Valen, and waited for a response. It was not long in coming. “What is it?” President Sheridan’s voice was strained and preoccupied. His attention was not on the com screen.  
“Mr. President, it’s Montoya.” John’s gaze turned to rest on the ranger captain.  
“Delenn, take over for a minute.” Entil’zha’s voice filtered over the com as she agreed. John then turned back to the screen. “Have you found something?”  
“Yes sir. We’ve located Jade. David may be there as well, but we have had a visual confirmation on your younger son’s identity.”  
The president’s eyes closed and he let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, can you get him out of wherever he is?”  
“Yes, we think we can. I’ve got to go back and look the place over better, but as soon as the I.D. was confirmed I decided to come give you an update as you requested.”  
“Thank you. We’ve been a little on edge here. Proceed as you see fit, but please take care of him. Keep him safe, and inform us when you get him out. I’ll be sending someone for him as soon as you send the word he’s safe.”  
“I’ll keep you posted, sir.”  
“You better. Sheridan out.” The screen went blank.

********************************B5***************************

John turned and reassumed command of the battle. He looked around the tactical displays for enemy positions. Out of the twenty Drakh ships that they had engaged, six were still in commission. Three of which were cruisers two mid-class ships and one escort vessel. He didn’t even try to count the fighters swooping around dog fighting between the larger ships. “Status report.”  
“Everything seems to be well in hand, sir,” answered the ranger nearest him. “The starboard cruiser has no maneuvering or firing capabilities. The port has weapons but no engines, and the one in the center is still fully operational.”  
“Well, take out the weapons still operational and while you’re at it take out their engines too. We may not want to destroy them, but I don’t want them running off and causing more trouble.” He looked around the view again and requested an open channel. “Drakh ships, if you surrender now you will be spared.” He waited for a reply. It wasn’t long in coming.  
“We would rather die.”  
He answered with, “All ships, take ‘em out. Lets end this now.” He got confirmations from the fleet and the space between the two sides blossomed with laser blasts. The port cruiser mushroomed into a fireball, followed closely by the central ship and two of the three middle class ships.  
“Sir, we’ve just intercepted a signal into hyperspace. They’re calling reinforcements.”  
“All ships form up. Get ready for company.” He got acknowledgments and the other Alliance ships reformed while continuing to rain destruction upon the remaining ships. As the last cruiser blossomed into a ball of flame, six jump points opened around their fleet of fifteen ships. Out of the jump points appeared twenty Drakh ships. Ten heavy cruisers, outnumbering John’s fleet by two cruisers. Seven mid-class ships and three escort vessels. “Well, lets get to work people. All ships, fire at will, I repeat fire at will.”

********************************B5***************************

Susan confirmed the go order, and formed her squadron for attack. “This should be fun.”  
Marcus looked up at her and agreed, “I’d say so. They out number us and they haven’t been through a battle in the last five minutes.”  
“Don’t sound so down. Just think of it as a challenge.”  
“A bit of a challenge, right, let’s get to it.”  
This battle lasted three hours. No Drakh ship escaped to report back, and no Alliance ship escaped undamaged. Susan’s Whitestar would spend the intervening week in dry-dock taking repairs, Marcus spent a night in the Star of Valen’s medical bay. John filled Susan and Delenn in on the developments in the search for the boys, and conducted repairs. The battle would prove to be the pinnacle of the war. 

********************************B5***************************

Jade woke to the sound of the cell door opening. He reached out to David’s mind instinctively. ‘Wake up. David, someone is comin’ in.’ David stirred and moaned in pain. “Shhh.” Jade put a hand over his brother’s mouth and felt bad for waking him. “Lie still, I’ll go with them this time.”  
“No, Jade. I don’t want you to get hurt.”  
“David, if you go again they’ll kill you. I’m not gonna go home alone. Now pretend to sleep.” Jade, despite the pain in his head, prepared himself to influence the sight of the Dark Man entering the room. He was surprised when the mind he touched wasn’t alien like the Dark Men, but a human’s mind.  
“Jade Sheridan.” Came a whispered inquiry.  
“Who’s there?” Jade stood slowly.  
“I am Anla’Shok Montoya. I am here to help you.”  
“Are you alone?”  
“No there are a few others with me.” Montoya stepped into the room.  
“Good because I don’t think David will be able to walk. They’ve been hurting him during the interrogations.”  
“David is here as well? Come. We are going to carry you out with some discarded rags. We can move you both, it will be unpleasant, but it is the only way we can get you out without a fight. There are few of us left here and the Drakh in this compound outnumber us. Also we don’t want to endanger your lives.” Montoya sighed in relief when the little boy nodded. He’d heard that the child didn’t respond well to strangers, and was worried that they’d have to sedate him.  
“Get David first.” Was his only stubborn stipulation. Jade waited quietly for him to make up his mind.  
“All right. We will load him first, but we are taking you both out at the same time.” He signaled the rest of his team, and they entered quickly. They efficiently loaded and disguised the two boys and made a hasty exit up the stairs and down the halls of the rich manor house. “We need your absolute silence child.” Montoya warned.  
They came to the sentries beside the door they’d entered through and stopped waiting for permission to proceed. The consent came and the six disguised rangers calmly left the building. Once out and away from the manor house they took a street that led into the city below. The fires still raged, but Montoya had made sure they’d have a way underground.  
After he sealed the passage he pulled the rags off the two boys. “We are safe now, you can get up.”  
“Where are we, sir? Are we gonna go home now?” Jade sat up and looked around at the gray stone walls of the tunnel.  
“I’m going to take you both to a medical center and have you checked out right now. Then we’ll see about contacting your mother and father.”  
Jade nodded, and stated matter-of-factly, “David passed out again. I think he’s hurt bad. We should get going to the doctor.”  
They hadn’t stopped walking as Montoya spoke to the child, and were now nearing the entrance to the center Kay’Lynn and the other rangers had been moved to. Jade slid off the disguised gurney to walk beside it holding his brother’s hand and carrying his bag. “We’re okay David. Mom’s rangers got us now. We’re gonna go home.”   
To Montoya it sounded like the child was trying to reassure himself more than his brother. The doctors swarmed as they entered. Jade stiffened and held more tightly to his brother’s limp hand.

********************************B5***************************

When the door opened Jade saw the white sterile walls he’d learned to associate with a medical center. Doctors, in the green smocks that he was used to seeing, surrounded them and wheeled David off into an examination room. Jade tried to follow and was stopped by a second doctor. He flinched away from the man and tried to follow his brother again. The doctor grabbed his arm and tried to force him to follow. Jade let out a piercing scream and dropped David’s bag to try and pry the hand off his arm. Somewhere in the confusion, of Montoya yelling at the doctor to let him go, to the monitors’ sounds and Jade’s screams and struggles, Baldor the Ferret worked his way out of the bag and crawled to the hand gripping his master’s arm and bit into the tender flesh.  
Montoya had a hold on the doctor’s shoulders trying to get him to let go of his small ward when the man let out a pain filled shriek and dropped the boy’s arm. “What happened?”  
“Something bit me!” The young doctor screamed. “That child bit me!”  
Jade had hidden his small friend in his shirt and crawled behind some heavy immovable equipment. Montoya stepped over to the boy’s hiding place and asked him if he’d bitten the doctor.  
“No, I didn’t bite him.” Came the terrified reply. “Baldor did. He’s protecting me. Grampa got ‘im to protect me.”  
“Who is Baldor exactly?”  
“My ferret. My Grampa gave ‘im to me. He protects my dreams. I wanna go stay with David.”  
“You’ll see him soon, but now the doctors need to make sure you are not hurt or sick, and they are tending to David’s injuries. It’s going to be a while before they are finished with him. Why don’t you come out here and let them check you over?”  
“I don’t know them. I don’t know you. Mommy says that I’m supposed to trust the rangers, but I don’t know you. I want Mommy. I wanna go home.” While still frightened Montoya heard the fatigue in the young voice.  
“If you’ll come out and let the doctors make sure you are okay, I’ll take you with me to call Entil’zha.” He held his breath hoping against hope that the child knew his mother was Entil’zha.  
“You promise, for real.”  
“On my honor as Anla’Shok.”  
“Okay, but nobody can touch Baldor. He didn’t do anything wrong.”  
“I know. I’ll stay with you, child, and be sure that no one tries to harm him or you.”  
Jade crawled out, retrieved David’s dropped pack, and let him lead the way to another exam room. While they waited for another doctor to enter Montoya asked why Jade appeared more scared now than he had in the Drakh’s hands. Jade simply stated that he’d been with David before, and now he wasn’t. He then sat fidgeting as the doctor looked him over, pronouncing him fit enough, if a bit sleep deprived and malnourished. Montoya explained that it would be taken care of, and escorted Jade out of the room to check on his brother. The doctors said that he’d be fine after a week or three of bed rest and good food. Jade looked relieved, to Montoya, after they left David’s room quietly so as not to awaken him.  
“All right, let’s go call your parents young man.” Jade nodded and held tightly to the bag in his arms. Montoya led the way to the com shack and allowed Jade to enter first. He nodded to the young man on duty and informed him that he was going to update his superiors. The man waved them on before stepping out to give them privacy. Montoya led Jade to a screen. “You sit right up here for a bit.” Montoya lifted the small person onto the bench where the monitor sat. He then seated himself in the chair in front of the screen and encrypted his transmission signal.  
He got a bounce back signal and answered to confirm that it was indeed him calling Entil’zha and the President. Finally, the signal was answered and Susan Ivanova’s face filled the screen. Montoya watched as Jade Sheridan’s face lit like a candle during the Na’Fak’Cha.  
“Susochke!!” The boy hopped down and stood before the screen with a hand touching it.  
“JADE! Thank God! Are you okay, Dushenka? Is David there? Jade,--”  
“Sir,” Montoya interrupted, “I can assure you that he and David are going to be fine. I am looking for the President or Entil’zha. This is supposed to be their private line.”  
“It is, but they have left the fleet in my care for a bit. John is escorting his wife to Medlab.”  
“What happened to Mommy, Susochke!?”  
“She’s okay, Jade.” Susan soothed him. “During our last battle she was commanding a Whitestar, the ship was hit and she got bumped around a little. It’s nothing serious, but your dad wants her to stay out of the rest of the fighting. She’s been so worried about you and David that she hasn’t slept and is no condition to lead a battle.”  
“I know how she feels. Is everything almost finished?”  
“Yes, my Dushenka, we are almost finished here. I’ll be sending someone to get you and David and the rangers soon. So you hold on. Okay sweetling.”  
Jade nodded and took a deep breath. “Are you gonna send Daddy?” Susan had looked away as Marcus walked in, but the tone of his voice had pulled her back to him with concern.  
“What’s wrong?” Concern filled her voice and expression.  
He shrugged, “I just want to be home I guess. I don’t want to wait anymore I wanna go home, and I want my mommy and daddy.” He sniffled a little as he said this.  
“Jade, you’ve been saying that for over two months now. I think it’s high time someone started listening to you, and granted your request.” She put a hand against the screen and Jade placed his own over hers. “I’m going to sign off now, so that I can send someone after you, Dushenka. By the time your dad gets back to the tactical center here you and David will be waiting for him.” He nodded with tear filled eyes.  
“Please hurry, Susochke.” He whispered.  
“See you soon, sweetling.” She cut the transmission before she lost her nerve.


	15. Chapter 15

********************************B5***************************

Jade stepped away from the screen and pulled his bear out of the bag for the first time since they’d been captured. His small arms locked around it and he held onto it as if he feared either he or it would disappear. “I wanna go back and sit with David now, please.”  
Montoya agreed and Jade left the room. Montoya followed at a distance sensing that the boy didn’t want him close, but needing to protect the son of Entil’zha. The boy walked into the room where his brother slept and curled up at the end of the bed in a soft-looking chair. “I have to go and check on the rest of my friends here, Jade. I’ll be back in a few minutes and there are rangers guarding the room. You’ll be safe here so try to get some sleep.”  
“Not until I get back to Mommy. I can’t sleep good without her.”  
“Try, you need sleep so that you will be strong when you do get home.”  
Jade just looked at him with tired, haunted eyes. Montoya nodded his head and sighed in sympathy. “I’ll be back before you miss me.”  
A nod was all that he got as he left the room.  
He returned to Kay’Lynn’s side after checking on the three members of the team that were still recuperating. “Hi there,” she greeted him.  
“Hi. I came to check in, but I have new responsibilities so I can’t stay. Some VIPs are now in my care until a ship can be sent for all of us.”  
“I understand when duty calls. If you want I’ll have the doctors keep you informed of their condition.” Her motion took in the three unconscious forms around the room.  
“Thank you, I’d like that. It will make it easier to watch over those in my care. Keep me informed of your progress as well.”  
“I will.”

 

********************************B5***************************

Susan flew past Marcus into their room. He stepped over to the door and watched as she flurried around the room like a tornado packing a bag. “What are you doing, Suz?”  
“I’m going to get our hold-son and his brother.”  
“That was Montoya on the line then. It was Jade they found.”  
“Yes and David. I’m taking a transport and going after them and the rangers stationed there. The next time Baker checks in have him head to the nearest inhabited planet. We’ll find a way to get him home too.”  
“Susan, slow down. You should call John and get this approved.”  
“Marcus, you didn’t hear him, you didn’t see him. I’m not going to wait for John to say go. I’m not leaving him or David there any longer than they need to be there. I’m going to get them and I’m going to bring them back here.”  
“All right, let me get a bag and I’ll go with you.”  
“No, you stay here until John gets back, that way if anything happens this time you know where I’ll be and can send another team, besides someone has to inform him that his sons are safe. I won’t have the chance.”  
“Okay, I don’t like this, but I know your stubborn streak. I think it rivals the president’s so I’ll not stand in your way.” She watched, stricken, as he bowed out of her way.   
“I love you, Marcus.” He smiled and straightened as she dropped the bag and walked into his arms.  
“I love you too, beautiful.” He replied as he pulled her closer and tenderly kissed her forehead. “Go bring them home. I know you need to do this to alleviate your unjustified guilt and I know I’ll regret saying that aloud so go. I’ll expect you to check in every three hours, even while you’re en route.”  
“I will. I promise, every three hours from the moment we enter hyperspace. I’m sorry I’m putting you in this position, but I have to get them back because I lost them.”  
“I just said I understood. Go. And be careful.”  
Susan stepped away and lifted her bag. “You too. Talk to you in three hours.” With that she turned and left their rooms. She used her link to get in touch with Lenann and had him patch her through to the transport John had set aside just in case it was Jade that Montoya’s group had found. She had them prep the ship while she boarded a shuttle and flew over. She called Marcus as the ship entered Hyperspace and then they were on their way, leaving her time to review the cover she, Delenn and John had discussed.

********************************B5***************************

John Sheridan sat beside his wife’s bed in the medical center of The Star of Valen. One of the Minbari doctors was checking the gash on her calf and the bruising around her ankle. “What exactly happened, Delenn?”  
“At the very last of the battle the bridge was hit directly and a girder fell on the command chair where I was sitting. Had I not been thrown from the chair on impact it would have fallen directly on top of me. As it is it rolled off of the seat and onto my legs.”  
“I’m thankful that it wasn’t more serious than that.”  
She sucked in a sharp breath as the doctor tested the sensitivity of her ankle. “Hmm, that left ankle may be broken.” He commented stoically. “We’ll get some readings in a moment. The gash is easily treated, but I presume that blood loss was sufficient. You’ll be shaky on your feet for a good while but I wouldn’t worry about that. By the time this ankle heals you’ll have replenished your blood supply. I’d propose that you stay down for the remainder of the campaign.”  
“No, I am Entil’zha, they will need me to lead.”  
“They have sufficient leaders I think. You need rest, Entil’zha.” He admonished.  
“I suppose so.” She sighed in defeat. “John, you should call your parents and give them and Mayan an update.”  
“I was going to do that once we got you settled in our quarters. Then I’ll get back to the tactical center and relieve Susan and Marcus to go get some rest.”  
“All right, it sounds like you have everything well in hand, as usual.” She settled back on the bed to wait for the doctor to finish and clear her to go rest.

********************************B5***************************

Finally, they got back to their rooms and John got Delenn settled on the couch. He knew it was pointless to put her in bed; she’d just get up, complaining that she couldn’t sleep. After making her comfortable and bringing her a relaxing tea blend, he called his father’s farm. His parents faces had no more appeared onscreen than his mother asked if there was any news on the boys.  
John answered, “Yes, one of the rangers on Centauri Prime spotted Jade. They’re trying to get him out and are going to call as soon as he’s safe. Once he calls after they’ve rescued him I’ll be ready to go get him. I’m going myself.”   
“Thank goodness.” His mother sounded relieved. “What about Davy?”  
“They suspected that David might be in the same place as Jade, but they haven’t seen him.” John adjusted the screen so that Delenn could be a part of the conversation too. He then sat near her.   
His mother immediately noticed the bandages and regen packs on her legs. “Dear Lord, what happened?”  
“I was injured while captaining one of our Whitestars during our most recent battle. It’s not so bad as the doctors and John would make it.”  
John snorted derisively. “Still, they say she’s to stay out of the rest of the fighting.” Delenn gave him a glare, still unhappy with that decision. “Is Mayan still there or did she catch a transport back to Minbar?”  
“Oh, she’s still around. We didn’t feel right letting her take a public transport alone.”  
John chuckled. Mayan was no child, but his parents still worried over him so he was unsurprised that they worried over her as well. “Good, I’ll let the three of you keep Delenn busy while I go relieve Susan and Marcus of duty for a few hours.” John tried to stand, but Delenn held him close touching her forehead to his with her left hand resting over his heart.  
“Be careful.” As she said this a single tear slid down her face. “Let me know when they have him in their care.”  
John wiped it away, “I will, you try not to worry too much, and spend a lot of time reminiscing with Mayan. You two don’t see enough of each other. This’ll do you some good even if it is over Stellar Com.” She nodded as another tear slipped past her lids. John kissed her softly and stood. The ranger assigned to assist Delenn walked John out, saying that she would be well taken care of. John didn’t really doubt it, but he felt better knowing that Delenn would not be alone in their temporary home waiting for word of her sons’ conditions. And the time talking with Mayan would do her good.

********************************B5***************************

“Marcus,” John greeted as he walked in, “where’s Susan?”  
‘Here we go,’ Marcus thought. “She received some news and took off a while ago. Montoya linked in for is report and it’s better than we thought. David was with Jade the whole time. They are both safe in a medical facility that the Drakh haven’t found, and are being protected by the rangers still capable of protecting.”  
“They’re okay then.” His face relaxed for the first time Marcus had seen since Montoya’s last report. “Thank Valen. Delenn will want to know. Susan has taken off after them I guess.”  
“Yes, she didn’t want to wait for your return. I know I should have stopped her but I didn’t have the heart to hog tie her.”  
John chuckled. “I know. She still feels responsible. If you’d tried to stop her, and I agree the only way to accomplish that would be hog tie her, you would have an angry wife to contend with. Believe me we don’t need two vengeful wives on this ship. Delenn is still not happy that she’s been confined to her quarters.”  
Marcus was pleasantly surprised that John hadn’t railed against him. “Thank you for understanding.”  
“No problem. Look, why don’t you go get some rest and come relieve me in the morning. I’ll link in and tell Delenn that the boys are safe and I’m taking over here for a while. I’ll leave day after tomorrow in one of the Whitestars and rendezvous like we planned.”  
“I’ll do that. See you later.” Marcus left the tactical center and headed home for a shower and a meal and some sleep. He returned ten hours later rested and ready for command.  
By the time John got back to the suite Delenn was sound asleep in the room they shared. He resigned himself to telling her before he left being reluctant to wake her.  
When he contacted Marcus for his check-in three days later he learned that Susan had missed her last three check-ins since landing on Centauri Prime. He was worried, but decided to wait and see if she made it to the rendezvous on time. If she wasn’t there at the appointed time, he would go and look for them and the Drakh be damned. He’d call in the whole fleet if he had to.

********************************B5***************************

Susan descended the ramp of the transport onto the soil of Centauri Prime noticing as she did that the gravity here was a little heavier than Earth normal gravity. The breeze blowing held the smell of fires that blazed in the distance. About fifty feet in front of her stood two men. One was the ranger that she’d spoken to a few days ago. The other was also a ranger, that much she could tell from the clothes, and from the reaction of the hairs on the back of her neck, there were others out there somewhere keeping an eye on this meeting.  
“Montoya,” She walked toward and met the man halfway shaking his hand as they came within reach. “Are they really all right?”  
“David was being questioned by the Drakh and took a good beating for his stubbornness, but he’s going to be fine. Jade was simply exhausted and malnourished after a week of nothing but bread. He’s fine in that respect now, but David is going to be recuperating for a while.”  
“He’s still not sleeping though. I understand that. He’s not slept well for a while now. Can we get moving then? I want to get them and you out of here as soon as possible.”  
“Follow me then.” He turned and led the way to their entrance. Susan was surprised when Montoya opened the floor underneath them, instead of the door in front of them. “Watch your step its dark in here after you’ve been outside, even at night.”  
“Right,” was her only reply, “just get me to the boys.”  
“We’ll be there shortly.” Despite his words Susan felt the minutes tick by as though they were hours. Finally, they were before the door. He entered a code and the door swooped aside to allow them admittance. She didn’t even show surprise when the bare stone walls gave way to the Medlab. Montoya led her to a room two floors down. “They are both here. I had them moved as soon as David was well enough. Jade won’t sleep, so I thought to make them both as comfortable as possible.” He explained before opening the door.  
“I understand, just let me in there.” 

********************************B5***************************

Jade had just zipped Baldor up for the night to try to rest himself, even though he knew he wouldn’t sleep, when Montoya opened the door to his and David’s shared Medical room. He turned to acknowledge the ranger’s presence. When he saw the familiar raven dark hair pulled back severely in a tight pony tail he froze in disbelief. Then she stepped past Montoya. “SUSOCHKE!”   
Susan felt her knees go weak with relief and sank to the floor as Jade came to her. She wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly, protectively to her, and the past two weeks worth of worry and guilt and fatigue escaped with the breath she’d been holding, and melted into joy that he was there holding her as tightly as his meager strength would allow.  
After a moment she pulled away and checked him over, making sure that he still had all ten fingers and toes, both ears and both eyes. Finally, she was satisfied that he was whole and pulled him in for another hug. She pulled back and kissed his cheek quickly three times. “Thank God you two are safe now.” She stood and lifted him off the floor, carrying him she stepped over near David and woke him softly with a kiss on his forehead.   
His nose was bandaged and had a regen patch over it; his eyes were still black, but he looked better than Montoya had described him over the com. She reached her free arm out and hugged her ‘nephew’ softly. “If you two ever pull anything like this again, I’ll personally hang you both out to dry.” She admonished them delicately. “Your mother and father and Marcus and I have been out of our minds with worry. Not to mention your Grandparents and Shal Mayan. Though I think she might be more worried that her stolen shuttle still has not been returned.” She giggled despite her stern look for both of the boys.  
“Are we in lots of trouble, Susochke?” Jade asked tentatively not raising his head from her shoulder.  
“Of course we are, Jade. We stole Aunt Mayan’s shuttle and it’s been captured and she’ll most likely never get it back.”  
“But we could get it. The Dark Men took us here on it from the ugly ship remember.”  
“True, it is on Centauri Prime, somewhere. They thought it was really funny flying us around as prisoners on our own ship.”  
“Calm down. I think that for a while everyone will be too relieved that you are alive and relatively unhurt to be mad.” She looked around at their accommodations. “What do you two say about getting out of here and going to meet up with your mom and dad?”  
“I’m ready.” Jade stated firmly. David gave a lopsided smile at his brother’s adamant admission.  
“Yeah, let’s get outta here.”  
Montoya watched in disbelief as David pulled monitor diodes off and stood, pulling his tattered shirt back on as he did. Apparently the doctors had allowed him to retain his own clothes and as soon as he had been able David had changed from the gown to his own pants after they’d been cleaned. “You aren’t thinking of leaving now, are you? Three of my team are still in need of medical attention.”  
“The ship we are to meet in Hyperspace is fully equipped to handle any medical situation. I told you I was getting them out of here as soon as possible. That means now. Come on guys, get your stuff together.” Both boys jumped into action gathering their limited possessions.   
It didn’t take long and they were leaving the room. Montoya strode after them. “Okay, follow me and I’ll show you the others we will be taking with us.”  
“Good idea, I’ll need to contact the crew on my ship to bring the transports for those who can’t walk.”  
“There are only three rangers, they are all unconscious, though none are in danger any longer. The last of them came off the life-support two days ago. They do need constant monitoring, in the event the doctors here missed anything. Then there is Kay’Lynn. She has been badly burned and needs a chair to be wheeled in. Her doctors prefer it that she doesn’t walk.”  
“So, four that need to be carried out, what about the others? How many are left?”  
“There are seven of us. Including myself.” He looked sadly away. “We knew we’d take heavy losses, but it is hard.” Susan looked on in sympathy, she knew what he was feeling having lost comrades of her own. They entered a room with four people in it. Three of them lie motionless on the medbeds. The fourth looked up from a paper she was looking over. “General Ivanova, may I present Kay’Lynn, the leader of these underground cities, and the one who saved our mission here.”  
Susan nodded to the woman on the bed. She tried to step forward, but Jade, who held her hand, refused to enter any further into the room. “What is it?” She turned to him.  
His face was scrunched in thought, “There is a Dark Man in there.” He further studied the occupants of the room then pointed to one of the rangers that was still unconscious. “That one is a Dark Man. They know where we are.”  
“Jade, these men have been injured. They aren’t even aware of the things around them,” Montoya explained to him kneeling near at hand.  
But Jade was convinced and Susan knew better than to contradict him when his face was pinched, as it was now. “He is a Dark Man. He wants to hurt us.”  
Before Montoya could explain, the man in question sat up and said, “The boy is smart to know we are watching. That we were lying in wait for them to show themselves. You are now doomed.” The man lunged at Jade, but Susan was there between them and laid the man flat out with a single blow.  
“What do we do with him?”  
Kay’Lynn looked sadly at Montoya. “There is nothing you can do. The Keeper was not destroyed fully before it took hold of him. Now it is too late. The best thing for him, the most humane thing, would be death.”  
Montoya looked sickened. “Are you sure?”  
“Yes, as I said I’ve seen this kind of thing many times. There is no way to cure him.”  
Montoya nodded in defeat. “I guess I’ll leave the details to you. I don’t think I can, but wait until the children are gone before you do anything.” He moved to tie up the once friend.

********************************B5***************************

Susan knelt in front of Jade who looked shaken. “Are you okay?” He nodded quickly and put his arms around her neck. She took it for what it meant and lifted him off the floor as she stood. “Are you coming with us, miss?” Susan turned back to Kay’Lynn.  
“My doctors tell me it would do me good to leave this place for a while and heal in fresh air. Montoya offered to take me with him when he left. I accepted his offer so I guess I’m going with you.”  
“When can you be ready to depart? I personally want to get out of here as quickly as possible.”  
“I’ve had my things packed for a while now, since the last rescue attempt. So, if you’ll send someone to get my things I’ll get myself dressed and ready.”  
Ivanova sighed in relief. She’d thought that the woman would linger here. “Okay then, I’d like to get the other rangers moving.”  
“I’ll just get dressed while you do that and take care of this mess.” She indicated the unconscious man tied on the floor.   
“We’ll leave you to it then.” She turned and exited the room with Jade in her arms and David on her heels. Montoya sent Kendrick to guide Ivanova to the other rangers and she got them ready to move out. Then she contacted her ship and got them ready to receive patients. She checked her watch and saw that it was still two hours until her check in time, and marveled that such a small amount of time had passed.  
“Okay, guys let’s see what you’ve got here.”  
“Just what our bags would hold.” Jade said as he sat on a raised counter in front of her with his pack in his lap. “I kept Baldor with me, but I had to leave my picture of Mommy and Daddy and David and me.”  
Susan looked puzzled, “Baldor, what did you finally name that silly bear.” She took the bag and opened it. “Can I see him?”  
“Aunt Susan, look out!” David warned as the small furry head popped out and startled her.  
“Ahhh!” She shrieked and dropped the bag into Jade’s waiting arms. “What the hell is that?!?”  
“That’s Baldor. He’s the ferret that Grampa gave me.”  
“Your mom is gonna love this.” She took a deep calming breath. “Let me see him.” Jade handed the weaselish creature to her. She lifted him up and looked at him, noticing the band of dark brown over his eyes and the soft fur. “He’s kinda cute.”  
“Gramma said so too when we brought him home. Grampa said that he would protect me, and, you know what, he did. When the man was pulling me from David, Baldor didn’t like it that I screamed and he bit the man, and the man let go. But don’t worry he hasn’t bitten anyone else.” Susan smiled at his explanation and put the animal back into his bag.

********************************B5***************************

Finally everyone was ready to move and they all headed for the surface. Susan’s crew met them at the entrance tunnel and transferred the patients to their own gurneys. “Let’s get to the ship and get ourselves out of here.” They made good time back to the shuttle even in the darkness of the night, but they arrived to find it taken over by Dark figures moving in and out of the hatch. “Damn it all. Why can’t I catch a break just once?” She asked as if the universe had something against her personally. “Is it too much to ask maybe?”  
From behind them they heard a clash of shrieking metal and then a fireball lit the night in front of them. Susan flattened herself over Jade on the ground protecting him from the flaming shrapnel. Montoya and the others were on the ground also protecting their injured companions and David.   
After the shockwave passed Susan stood and brushed the debris off her uniform and checked both boys over. “I’ve come this far. There is no way I’ll loose you two again.”  
“They blew up our ship didn’t they?” Jade’s eyes were wide and scared.  
“I think so. We’ll find another way. Let’s get back to the city and call John.” She lifted him off the ground and turned back the way they’d come. Montoya walked over and stopped her.   
“We can’t get back in if we go that way. For that matter we may not want to get back there. The entrance has been compromised.”  
“Compromised how, are there guards?”  
“Compromised as in destroyed. There are guards there standing around the rubble waiting for those who try to enter, and I’m sure that there are more of them below. There is hope though.”  
“What is that?”  
“If they are attacking the city then they have left their base undermanned. Don’t worry, they will find that the people there are not untrained in self-defense. We may be able to steal one of their ships. We saw a few that would carry all of us, if they are gone we have more pilots than just you and I. We could just take the smaller ships.”  
“Lead the way, Montoya. We need to get out of here, but be extra careful. Dawn is coming soon and I don’t want to be moving around in the heat of the day with no food or water.”  
“Okay, this way. I know of some places nearby that we can use for safe havens. I used them during the mission.” The ranger turned and took the burden of Kay’Lynn’s wheelchair. He then led them out of the burning city toward the mansion that the boys had been imprisoned in. 

********************************B5***************************

 

At Dawn they stopped to rest in some heavy brush that hadn’t been destroyed by the fires set by the Drakh. Susan posted a guard of three rangers to watch for problems while the others slept. They’d be relieved at midday, and the group would press on that night. Jade curled up next to her as she took the first watch. She smiled down at him trying valiantly to sleep even though he was terrified.  
At midday Montoya proposed that they send someone ahead to the manor to scout the area and see how many of the Drakh were actually at the house. By this time Susan was so tired she didn’t argue. Montoya sent one of the others who’d gotten sleep and then took Ivanova’s place keeping watch over their sleeping companions. Susan, he noticed, lie down between the boys and slept with an arm around each. He further noticed that the younger of the two was only feigning sleep as small fingers stroked the furry head of the ferret cleverly hidden from most views.

********************************B5***************************

John was definitely getting edgy as time passed. Susan still had not contacted anyone and he had been waiting at he rendezvous for six hours now. He didn’t expect her for another two days, but he was a worried father and had a hard time sitting still. He’d continued to check with Marcus to see if she’d checked in with him instead of making contact with her escort, but still no luck. Delenn, he knew, was again beside herself with worry for their sons. 

********************************B5***************************

Susan listened carefully to the ranger’s account of the guard changes and placement of the two ships they were trying for. One was a small passenger transport that would hold up to eight people. The other, luckily enough was Shal Mayan’s shuttle. She decided to send in the rangers to disable the guards when they next changed shifts. If they could be silenced quickly it would give them more than two hours to get to the ships check them over and take off.  
She talked to Montoya about who they would send down there and he gave her the names of the rangers who had been able to sleep the day through. She left the ultimate decision up to him since he knew them better than she did, even though it had been agreed upon by the both of them that she would lead the team.

********************************B5***************************

David sat with the other injured members of their group and held his tired little brother in his lap, grateful that the nights here were cooler than the days. He could feel the fatigue through the way Jade sagged against him. He had thought that the little guy was getting better after they’d helped their mom and dad, but the dreams had returned to him early in their stay with the Drakh. He’d actually been able to sleep some in the medical center, but David had felt him wake with the slightest noise, and knew that he wasn’t getting the rest his mind needed. He knew Jade didn’t feel safe here and it had surprised him when he had remained afraid even after Susan had shown up.  
He noticed his aunt looking over at them as Montoya walked off to talk to the rangers he assumed would be sent to take down the guards. He noticed her gaze linger on his brother and smiled slightly to try to reassure her that he would be okay. She turned away again as Montoya walked up to her. They held a quick discussion, and she turned and walked over to them.

********************************B5***************************

Susan watched Jade as Montoya walked off to gather the ones who would go down and deal with the guards. The poor little guy looked more scared and confused as time passed. David smiled at her and she turned back to Montoya, not reassured exactly, but at least feeling a little easier about her hold-son’s demeanor. “What’s the word?”  
“I’ve got the ones I trust, and they will follow your orders to the letter. They are waiting for you now.”  
“Good, I’ll talk to Jade and David for a minute then we can be on our way.” She turned and walked over to them, not looking forward to the forthcoming conversation at all. As she got closer Jade picked himself up off of David’s lap and put his arms around her hips. “Hey, guys.”  
“I guess everything is set to go.” David said without preamble.  
“Yeah, I just need to talk to the two of you and let you know the plan.” She squatted down in front of David and pulled Jade closer so he stood between her legs and held her neck, while she put her arms around him protectively. “I’m going to be leading the team down there. I need to make sure that the ships haven’t been tampered with, and I need to see it for myself.” Jade’s face twisted into a look of fear and he shook his head vehemently, No. “I have to, Jade. I trust the rangers, but I will feel better about taking the both of you in those ships if I see them and check them myself.”  
David, she knew understood, but Jade did not want her to go. She felt his reluctance to let her out of his sight in her mind and the tension of his body, and she could see it in the tears that welled and streamed down his face, and in the balling of his little fists. She smiled at this unconscious gesture, noting again just how much he was John and Delenn’s child. “I’ll be okay and you and the others will be only a few minutes behind us, Jade.” Still the emphatic shake of the head. She thought for a moment of something that would make this easier for him and rubbed her face in frustration as nothing presented itself. In the process of rubbing her face her finger encountered the cool metal of her single earring. As she’d taken the matching earring out of her ear and given it to her brother Ganya; she’d told him that she wouldn’t wear another earring until he returned it to her, and she hadn’t. A silent, furious debate raged in her mind. Finally, she decided to go for it and took the earring out of her ear and refastened it on Jade’s shirt. “You keep this while I’m gone and when you see me again you can give it back. Okay?” He looked down at the horizontal teardrop shape and then back to her. She could see in his face that he still didn’t want her to go, but he nodded slowly and hugged her again. She returned his hug and eventually pushed him gently to his brother. “I’ll see you both in a bit on the shuttles.” They both nodded and she joined the rangers waiting for her. They then started sneaking down to the hangar where their prey lie unsuspecting.

********************************B5***************************

Susan slunk through the shadows beside the Centauri mansion she’d already dispatched with her assigned guards and received the signals from the rest that they were finished as well. She’d signaled the rest of their entourage and seen that the group was on their way down the small slope to the grounds around the manor and now she was proceeding to the ships they’d chosen. She searched the skin of the larger transport and found three different tracking devices but, thankfully, no bombs. She was now moving to the inside of the ship to search the control panels and passenger compartment. Again she found no bombs nor did she find a tracer. She exited the ship to find her passengers had arrived. Jade stood beside David watching for her. She smiled at him and motioned for continued silence. 

********************************B5***************************

Her search of Mayan’s shuttle came up with three different explosives in three different places. The first she’d found attached to the small defensive lasers. It had been easily removed and wouldn’t have caused damage enough to destroy the ship. The second device was much larger and being attached to the engines was clearly meant to destroy the ship. The third more complex package disturbed her. It was attached to the communications systems of the shuttle. She finally resolved that it had been a last resort.   
If the shuttle had escaped undamaged, the pilot and passengers would feel safe and not be looking for the device, but the first time they used the com to contact outside help the bomb would have detonated and destroyed the controls and whoever was standing near the com when it went off.   
This third device also proved more difficult to extract. She’d called Montoya in to help her double check to make sure there was nothing of it left in the wires and circuits. He had spotted a few other suspect wires and they’d removed those as well. Finally, she decided that it would be best if the occupants of this shuttle didn’t touch the com but instead use a portable link she provided. Then they loaded the wounded onto the transport.

********************************B5***************************

David steeled himself and approached his aunt as she came down the ramp after helping to load the last of the injured rangers. “Aunt Susan,” he spoke softly.  
She held a finger to her lips and motioned him closer, bending she whispered, “What is it David?”  
He lowered his voice as well, “I want to ride on Mayan’s shuttle. I took it and I feel I should be there to return it.”  
“David, I know you’re expecting an argument, but it’s good you wish to take responsibility for your actions. I’ll allow it, but you let Montoya do the piloting, okay?”  
“I will. Thank you, Aunt Susan.” She nodded and he turned to board the shuttle. Only the guard they’d set were left to board. She motioned them in and they began making their way forward. She turned to board the ship and out of the corner of her eye she saw a dark shape slink toward the ramp of the transport. Ivanova rushed the figure and tackled it to the ground. The dark hood fell askew and she saw the face of one of the higher counselors of the Drakh society. She could see him readying an alarm as he took a deep breath. She punched him in the stomach and the air he’d taken in exploded out in a rush. Then he struggled to free himself of her weight. He got an arm free and cuffed her, knocking her to the ground beside him. They both gained their feet again and he rushed her. She didn’t see the naked blade in his hand until it was too late.  
She took it on her forearm and felt the sting as it left a deep gash down her arm. She gripped the hand holding the knife to prevent its use a second time, and by that time the guard had reached them and pulled the Drakh away. She told them to take him alive, but he wouldn’t allow himself to be captured and before any of them could disarm him he stabbed himself in a critical area and they dropped his sagging body to the ground to board the ship behind her.

********************************B5***************************

Jade was strapped into a seat in the passenger compartment when Susan boarded and headed into the cockpit. He sucked in a breath when he saw the blood dripping from her arm, but she passed him by quickly in a hurry to lift off and get them to safety, so he didn’t say anything. The lift off took forever as he watched the open doors between the two compartments. Through them he could see the copilot’s seat but not the pilot’s where, he knew, Susan was sitting. He felt the ship heave as it exited the hangar and then the sharp dip of his stomach as Susan headed for the atmosphere and open space. He could hear her talking to her ranger copilot, and the correspondence between the two ships, but he was more worried about Susan than interested in the conversations taking place.  
He didn’t hear Montoya inform Susan of the incoming Drakh fighters that had been left to blockade the planet. “We’ll just have to out run them, Montoya. Head for the jumpgate at full speed. I’ll open it as we get closer.” She knew it was a long shot that they’d make it to the jumpgate before the fighters got to them. They were smaller and more maneuverable after all. Plus, her ship carried injured and she didn’t want to jostle them any more than necessary.  
She had just finished entering the jumpgate sequence when the fighters caught them. “Well, we got closer to the gate than I’d hoped, at least. Hang on back there!” She yelled her warning as she went into evasive maneuvers still on course for the gate. She looked down at the display and saw that Montoya was following her lead. The two ships entered the jumpgate as the first blasts from the Drakh hit their ships. Then they were safely in Hyperspace and on the way to the rendezvous.  
“Susochke, can I get up now?”  
Susan checked her screens again to see if there were any ships in pursuit started to say he could unstrap and come forward then thought the better of it. “No, you stay back there for a little while longer. We’ll be at the rendezvous in just a few hours, I’ll come sit with you in a bit.” Montoya’s voice came over the link asking if she was going to check in with their escort. “No, I am going to maintain com silence. I don’t want to attract undue attention. I’ll call you again when we get to the rendezvous.” She cut the com and settled back to finish her check for damage. After finding everything in good condition she unstrapped and went into the passenger compartment to check on the passengers. Her medical team had the injured and unconscious passengers well in hand so she went to sit with Jade.  
“Are we safe now?”  
“As safe as I can make you at the moment, Dushenka.” She smiled softly at him.  
“Good.” He lifted his hands and took her earring off his shirt and deposited it in her palm. “Will you stay here with me?” He asked in a small voice as if afraid she’d say no.  
“Of course, I’ll sit with you for a while. I’ll have to go back up there,” she indicated the cockpit with a nod, “but not until we get closer to the rendezvous.” She sat down on the deck beside his seat. “So, what’s wrong? You haven’t been sleeping again like when we were at home.”  
“I know. I had bad dreams again, but the ones that I had where you blew up with the ship didn’t come true. I’m glad they didn’t, but I saw your arm.” He looked down at her left arm where it still dripped blood slowly. “You’re still bleeding, Susochke.”  
One of the doctors she’d brought heard that and walked over with a kit. “This young man is right. Let me take a look.” He took a scalpel and cut away her shirt sleeve to reveal the deep cut along her forearm. “Looks like you’ll need stitches for this one. Let’s clean it out and get it closed up.” He set to work with Jade watching intently and asking questions here and there about the reasons behind this or that action and how the regen packs worked. Finally, the doc finished and left the two of them in peace.   
“You look tired, Susochke.”  
“I am tired, sweetling. It’s been a long couple of days, and I’ve been worried about you and David. I feel, I owe you both an apology.”  
“But, why? You didn’t do anything to us.” His small hand stroked her hair.  
“No, but I couldn’t help you either.” Her voice was strained.  
“But you’re taking us home to Mommy and Daddy. That’s helping us.” He leaned his head down to rest his forehead against hers. “It wasn’t your fault Susochke. We shoulda stayed with Gramma and Grampa like we were s’posed to.” She looked up at the little boy who appeared wise beyond his years, and tears filled her eyes when she saw the commiseration on his face. “Don’t cry they didn’t hurt us too bad. We’ll both be okay in a while.” He still hadn’t stopped playing with her hair twisting it around his small fingers.   
“Thank you, sweetling.”  
“What for? I didn’t do anything.” He looked puzzled.  
“Oh, you did more than you know. You gave me someone to love and care for when I didn’t think I’d ever have anyone. And, no, I don’t mean Marcus. Although you gave me him too.”  
“I’m glad I helped you. I never wanted you to be sad again like when I first saw you. You were very sad, like me.” She smiled and kissed his forehead. “Go to sleep for a while Susochke. I’ll wake you up when we get to the rendezvous.”  
“And just how will you know we have arrived?”  
“I’ll get the ranger up there to tell me.” Ivanova laughed at his open statement and rested her head against his knee, letting fatigue overtake her and slipping into sleep.

********************************B5***************************

John paced as he waited for the hour to pass. The time-frame they’d agreed the escort should wait for the rescue party would be up at the end of the hour, and John was still undecided whether to go back to the fleet or head to Centauri Prime and get his boys himself. His pacing was interrupted by a signal on one of the rangers stations. “What is it?”  
“We have two silhouettes exiting the local jumpgate, sir.” The ranger’s fingers glided over the controls. “One is a small passenger shuttle matching the description of the Te’La, and the other is a passenger transport. They’re hailing.”  
“Put it through.”  
Static sounded and then a familiar voice filtered through. “Passenger transport to Whitestar 86 come in please.”  
“We read you Transport. Susan, is that you?”  
“Yes it’s me, John. We ran into a little trouble and had to appropriate a ride home. Sorry to make you wait and worry.”  
“No problem. Now, is everything status quo?”  
“We’re all banged and bruised for our trouble, one of us is exhausted, but we’re all doing fine. Get the Te’La docked first. I want explosives experts to check out the com systems. We think we got it all, but I’m not taking any chances.”  
“Roger that. I assume you used the portable link,” he got her affirmative, “well, then tell them the bay is waiting for them. You can follow at any time.”

********************************B5***************************

Susan watched the smaller shuttle disappear into the bay and moved the transport forward to dock as well. The edges of the bay passed by either side of the ship and she set them down on the automatic loading platforms. The bay doors closed behind them and the platform moved them into a more secure position. As she watched out the forward view John met David on the catwalk from the shuttle into the Whitestar proper. John’s arms engulfed his son in a relieved hug. He pulled back after a moment and looked the young man over. Then her view was cut off as the platform turned to settle them nose out toward the bay doors. She unstrapped as it settled and she and the copilot went to help with the injured.  
As she passed she helped Jade unstrap himself and smoothed the hair from his forehead. “Let’s help with these rangers and then we’ll get you to your Dad.” He flashed her a toothy smile and nodded eagerly. He stood and slung his backpack over a shoulder as she moved to help with the stretchers and one wheelchair. They had unloaded one of the silent rangers when Montoya boarded and stepped to Kay’Lynn’s side.   
“I’ll help her, General. Go take the boy to his father. President Sheridan took David to the medical suite and would like you to join him there.” He turned back to Kay’Lynn before she could say anything so she turned to Jade and took his small hand in her own while leading the way down the ramp and into the Whitestar’s corridors.

********************************B5***************************

John sat beside David who was on the medical bed being looked over by Delenn’s personal physician. He’d sent word to Susan to bring Jade to him there and was now waiting for their arrival while trying to pay attention to the doctor at the same time. He heard the door open and looked up anxiously, only to be disappointed as the first unconscious ranger was wheeled through. A swarm of technicians surrounded him and they took him to a separate room. He looked back as Susan and his little boy entered before the door had a chance to close.   
Susan was holding Jade’s hand in one of hers; the other held the bag that had slipped off his shoulder. John felt the small gray-blue eyes rest upon him. Jade stopped in the entrance and just stared at him in hopeful disbelief. David also watched the little boy freeze. He looked back to his dad and saw the same hesitation. “Go to him, Dad, before he freaks out totally. He is afraid you’ll be mad at him.” John only nodded and stood to go to the boy.   
Jade bit his lip as his father walked toward him and he felt the tears sting his eyes. John now stood before him and Jade whispered softly, “Daddy.” 

********************************B5***************************

At the reverent whisper John bent and scooped his smaller son off his feet in an instant. He held his son snuggly to reassure himself that he was there, much the same as he’d done with David a few minutes previous. He felt the small arms around him as his son reassured himself that John was there as well. Then the small face burrowed in his shoulder and his body relaxed. “I was worried about you, Dad.”  
John laughed in relief at the statement. Not because it was ridiculous that the boy was worried about him when he’d been the one captured by the Drakh, but in relief that he was still speaking. John had been half worried that Jade would stop speaking again. “Not as worried as I have been, I promise you.” He ran his finger down Jade’s nose, Jade returned the familiar, reassuring gesture, and then John walked back to David’s bedside.   
“Hey, how was your trip, Jade?” David looked up from the doctor’s ministrations. “We got tossed around a bit.”  
“Yeah, we did too, and Susochke wouldn’t let me get out of my seat. I had to stay strapped in the whole way here.” He answered from his dad’s arms. “Dad, where are we gonna go now?”  
“Well, I thought about taking you straight to your grandparents, but Mom would murder me in my sleep if I didn’t take you to her first, so we’ll be joining the fleet in a couple days.” They all smiled at Jade’s sigh of relief. John reassumed his place on David’s right and put his free hand on his shoulder. Susan knew that he was still reassuring himself that they were safe. She’d done much the same thing since arriving on Centauri Prime.


	16. Chapter 16

********************************B5***************************

Ranger Baker had gotten the word that his primary mission was finished and Entil’zha’s sons were on their way home. Still, though, he followed the Drakh cruiser from place to place. Periodically he nestled up against its side to replenish his air. He had a feeling that this ship was important, so he stayed behind it. At the moment they were in hyperspace, and he was again snuggled up to its skin attached and renewing his air supply.   
Abruptly, a jump point opened in front of them. Through it he could see hundreds of ships. He dropped off of the ship with his full supply of air before the cruiser could jump to normal space, and took note of the sector and coordinates. He waited for the jump point to close then sent the information to the fleet. He turned the fighter around and set it on auto pilot for the nearest friendly system and began his trance to conserve air with a warning set to wake him if there was a problem.

********************************B5***************************

John hadn’t left David or Jade for the entire trip back to the fleet. David had been moved to one of the empty bunks and rested for most of the trip, John sat beside him with Jade clinging to him.   
John had tried to get the little boy to sleep, but only once. Jade had tried and actually fallen asleep for a few minutes, but he soon jerked awake in fear not remembering that he was safe. After that and the ensuing sobs, John just held him. If Jade slept, John decided, it would be because he was comfortable doing so. He hadn’t. There were a few times he’d dozed, but he’d not fallen deeply asleep the whole trip. They’d taken their meals in the room with David, and Ivanova joined them. The trip had been far from silent.   
John encouraged both his sons to talk about their imprisonment. He knew from experience that talking about it helped to assure you that you were safe again. By the time they docked with The Star of Valen, David’s nose was healed, though still discolored with bruises. Jade was more at ease than David had seen him since they’d begun to search for their parents. As they disembarked from the shuttle Marcus met them. Susan was enveloped in his relieved embrace. John and the boys passed them by, and went to see their mother.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn sat with her leg still in a cast up on the couch and waited anxiously for John and the boys to arrive. Marcus had informed her of their return, and confirmed that David and Jade were indeed with the rescue party. She’d wanted to meet them in the docking bay, but the doctors wouldn’t give her leave. They barely let her walk around her own quarters. So, she waited and fidgeted and finally the three most important people in her life entered their suite.  
John had an arm around David and carried Jade in the other. Slowly she stood and limped over to them, and encircled her family with her arms. David held on to her tightly as Jade turned in John’s grip to set an arm around her shoulders. She kissed both her boys and then her husband and recommended that they sit and talk for a while. She tried to keep it calm and soothing with no strong emotion for the time being. There would be plenty of time later to fawn over her boys. They talked a long, long time before Susan and Marcus joined them. Delenn had a hug for her dear friend too.  
“We were so frantic when you missed your check-ins. I was this close,” she held her thumb and forefinger a millimeter apart, “to ordering the fleet to Centauri Prime to get you myself.”  
“I figured, sorry, we ran into a trap and the Drakh bombed my ship. It took us a while to find a replacement, and by the time we got away, with all the problems we’d had, I thought it was best to maintain com silence.” Susan looked abashed.  
Delenn smiled softly from where she still sat on the couch. “That’s all right Susan, I’m thankful that you three are home safe. Under the circumstances I would have done the same thing.”  
“She did a great job, Mom.” David stated from his spot on the floor beside her. “She didn’t even mind the rat.”  
“Rat? What rat?” Delenn looked puzzled.  
Jade answered before David could. “Well, I took Baldor with me on the shuttle and then I hid him in my bag when the Dark Men got us. I used my mind to hide the bags from them.”  
Susan, assuming that Delenn and John didn’t know any more about the ferret than she had, explained who he was.  
“Oh, I know. Nancy contacted us when David decided to buy him for Jade, she wanted to make sure it was okay, obviously, it was. I thought it would be good for him to have someone to care for and keep his mind off of his own worries.” She looked down the couch to where her smaller, noticeably thin son sat with his father. “I would like to meet him though.”  
“Okay, I’ll get him.” Jade slipped off John’s lap and went to his little backpack. He unzipped it and a small peculiar, pointed, furry face popped out. They watched as the little being sniffed the air and then climbed Jade’s pants and shirt to perch on his shoulders. It sniffed his hair and neck, then turned to inspect the crowd across the room. Jade plucked his little friend off his shoulder, and walked over and showed the brown and white creature to his mother. “This is Baldor. Grampa says that his name comes from Norse mythology. It’s cool, I think. Avery likes him too.”  
“He is a very handsome little creature. A ferret, right?” Jade nodded his head while he petted the little animal in her hands. “His fur is a contradiction. Soft yet coarse. I like him.” She smiled and pecked her son on the cheek.  
“Me too. He’s a good friend. He protects me, Mommy. I got scared when the rangers took us to the Medlab and the doctors separated me and David. I was trying to get away from one of them to go with David and he held really tightly and then Baldor bit him and he let go. I thought that they would hurt him for biting, but Mr. Montoya said that they wouldn’t touch him, so I like Mr. Montoya.”  
“That is good to know. He is a good friend to have.” She let go of the rodent and pulled her little one close. “I missed you so much.”  
“Me too, Mommy.” He whispered to her. Then he pulled away to go and sit with John once more. She was puzzled by this action, it was out of the character he’d shown since she’d met him. He should have latched onto her and refused to let go, instead he pulled away. His eyes never left her though. The little ferret slunk down the couch to his master and curled up in the boy’s lap. John took the opportunity to check out the little creature for himself.  
“He is pretty neat. Have you taught him any tricks or anything? For that matter can he be taught?”  
“Sure, I taught him that he doesn’t go on the table anywhere, and that biting is not allowed, after he bit the doctor. I can talk to him too. He listens to whistles and things. While we were in the Dark Men’s place we played a game. I would whistle at him for what I wanted out of my bag and he’d bring it to me. Watch I’ll show you.” Jade whistled and chittered at the creature for a bit then it disappeared into the bag only to reappear carrying a trinket in its mouth. It climbed Jade’s pants again and dropped the shiny thing in Jade’s palm. “Thank you, Baldor.” Jade pulled a bit of dried food from his pocket and fed it to the ferret. He chittered again and Baldor slipped back onto Delenn’s lap and down David’s shirt to climb up Marcus’s cape. Jade giggled at the discomfiture his hold-father showed as the ferret got to his shoulders and promptly climbed and perched on the top of his head. This set them all to laughing.   
Marcus plucked the little one off his head and handed him back to the small owner. He then lifted the little boy, ferret and all, off of John’s lap. “If you and that brother of yours scare me like this much more I’m afraid I’ll waste away before my time.”  
“Sorry, Marcus. We wanted to help.” Jade ducked his head, chagrined.  
“I know, I’m not mad any longer, though I think we all were for a while. Now we’re just happy that you’re unharmed and can return a certain stolen shuttle.” Jade and David both looked ashamed.  
“Yeah, and I need to apologize to the pilot that I lured away.” Jade looked down at the floor guiltily. “I used my mind to make him think there was someone calling him. He left the shuttle and we took it. I didn’t like doing that, and I hope he didn’t get in trouble for leaving because he was supposed to be guarding it.”   
“Come here, Jade.” Delenn beckoned. Marcus set him on his feet and Jade walked over to stand beside David near his mother. She pulled him closer and he stopped her before she could put him on her lap.  
“No, I don’t wanna hurt your leg, Mommy.”  
“My leg will be fine. You, obviously, are not. Now come here.” He let her pull him into her lap. She rocked him gently as he held onto her anxiously. “I’m sure if he did get in trouble for it you will fix it with your apology, but I know Mayan, and she would not worry so much about his leaving, as you two taking it and getting captured.”  
“I still feel bad though.” He flinched from her gaze. His actions telling her just how distressed he was that he’d abused his abilities.  
“As you should, it was wrong to use your talents that way, and illegal to take the shuttle. I suspect the both of you will be helping Mayan to reorganize her library over the summer between your lessons.” David groaned at that revelation.  
“I guess that’s as fair as we’ll get. Believe me, it’s a huge library of scrolls and books both.”  
“I’ll do anything to make up for what we did.” He hesitated looking introspective. “But, I’m glad we did it too. We found you,” Jade added, leaning back against Delenn. Everyone lapsed into silence after that, and eventually Marcus returned to his duty shift in the tactical center. Susan went to grab a shower, meal, and some sleep before her next shift. John elected to accompany David into the other room to call Nancy and the elder David to let them know their grandsons were safe with their parents. It seemed that everyone agreed Delenn and Jade needed some time alone.

********************************B5***************************

After everyone had vacated the area Delenn sat Jade away from her and looked into his haunted eyes. That same look had disappeared little by little after the months he’d spent in their home. She had hoped and prayed that it would never return. Now as she looked into his eyes her heart very nearly broke. “You are safe now, you know?” He nodded.  
“But I really did a bad thing when I made the pilot leave so that we could take the ship.”  
“Jade, it wasn’t so bad. Stealing Mayan’s shuttle was worse than luring the pilot away. What is it that bothers you, so, about your actions?”  
“He would have done something like that. He did, and he made me help him do it. I didn’t want to then, and I didn’t want to this time. David really wanted to help you though.” His voice quieted even further, “so did I, and if I hadn’t gone with him he would have died. I couldn’t let him die, he’s my brother.”  
Delenn pulled him fiercely to her. “You are nothing like him, Jade. Bishop did that out of selfishness only to help himself. You and David wanted to help search for those of us who were lost.”  
“But that was selfish too because I wanted to find you. I didn’t want to find everyone, just you and Dad.”  
“Jade, it was not selfish of you to want to find us. In finding us you found those who were with us. So, you did more good than harm there.”  
“But then we got captured, and the men on the ship with Susochke died in that explosion.”  
“It was not your fault.”  
“If we hadn’t left we’d never have been captured and they wouldn’t have been there to save us.”  
Delenn sighed, it was apparent that her small son had spent ample time fretting over this issue, enough to stretch it out of proportion. “Jade, if you are determined to take responsibility, I can not stop you, but even if you hadn’t been down there they still would have gone. Montoya and the other rangers were there, you and David being there made no difference.” She looked him over again taking note of the haunted eyes and the gaunt frame. “It appears to me that you have suffered ample punishment for whatever crimes you have or think you have committed. You have not slept, have you?” He shook his head. “I thought so.”  
“It wasn’t only that though. I was having the dreams again.”  
“And why do you think they returned?” He shrugged, and she continued, “because you were comparing your actions to Bishop’s. The similarities you saw there brought out those memories and they plagued you. Jade, your own guilt has punished you better than your father or I ever could.”  
“I was worried that you wouldn’t want me anymore because I was like him.” His voice was so tiny that Delenn almost didn’t hear it.  
She hugged him as tightly as she dared. “Never think that, my son. You could not do anything to make me not love you with all of my heart. Never, will I not want you.”  
“I’m so sorry Mommy. I don’t want you to be mad at me.” His voice was muffled by her dress.  
“Well I am.” He flinched more violently in anguish and tried to pull away. She just held him more firmly not allowing him to get away. “I am furious that you would think your father or I could toss you aside just because you made a mistake.” She paused and sat him back holding his face with her hands to make him look in her eyes. “No, I am hurt that you would think that. Don’t ever doubt how much we love you, or how large a piece of our family you are and always will be.” Her voice was choked with tears, and Jade put his arms around her as he felt the first of his own tears escape, and the first of hers drip on his head.

********************************B5***************************

John re-entered the central room to find his wife and smaller son in a fierce embrace and he could see tears run down Delenn’s face. He walked over beside them and for a moment just stood there. Then he heard the choked sobs coming from his young son and he sat beside the couch and rested a hand on the heaving back. He stroked back and forth until the sobs stopped and the breathing calmed.   
Delenn’s tears still fell, but amazingly they were silent. He didn’t know what had prompted this, but he’d be damned if he left them alone for a second longer. Finally, though Delenn calmed and assured him that it was just a long overdue reaction to the guilt that she and Jade felt over things beyond their control and the rest she would tell him about later. He nodded satisfied for the time-being. “Why don’t we get you two into the bedroom. Jade, I think, could use a little rest.” Delenn agreed and they stood.  
Before they got far though a thought occurred to them both. John nodded at the look his wife shared and called David in, “We’re going to have something to eat; want to join us?”  
“When have I ever turned down food, Dad?” John laughed. He and David pulled some leftovers from the cooler as Delenn led Jade away for a quick bath. She had noted how refreshed David looked when he’d entered toweling his hair, at his father’s call, and decided that Jade would benefit from a bath as well.

********************************B5***************************

“Hey there,” Susan said as she entered the bedroom. “I thought you were still on duty.”  
“I was until the President showed up with nothing to do. Said that Delenn and the boys were all taking a nap or some such, and he wasn’t quite tired. So he decided to relieve me for a while. He wanted to set up a time to debrief Montoya and learn about his guest.” He smiled at her suggestively.  
“I’m so glad he did, now I’ll have someone to hold on to while I sleep. One question though,” Marcus raised his eyebrows anticipating her question, “Are you ever going to just call him John?” He shook his head and chuckled softly.  
“And here I thought we’d celebrate your return.” He was jesting and she knew it, but answered anyway.  
“I am celebrating. I’m going to get some uninterrupted sleep. You have no idea how hard that is with two boys to watch over.” She said as she crawled between the covers.  
“Are you kidding me? You weren’t the only one taking care of Jade.”  
“I was on Centauri Prime, and you weren’t the only one watching him at the house. Add David into the mix with Drakh and Rangers and you’ve got a zoo.”  
Marcus was introspective for a moment. “Point taken, but you asked for it running off like that. We’ve discovered the joys of parenthood. Tell you what, I’ll give you a back rub if you’ll give me a rain check.” He leaned forward to softly capture her lips.  
“Done and done, my ranger.” She smiled at him as she turned to lie on her stomach giving him access to her sore back.  
He leaned over to begin the massage and found himself toppling and pinned beneath her. “I thought you were tired.” He said huskily as he felt her breasts pressed to his chest.  
“I changed my mind.” She breathed against his lips before capturing them.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn started awake as the bed shifted behind her. She turned her head to look into the eyes of her older son. “Are you all right, David?”  
“Yeah fine. I just thought I’d keep an eye on you two while you sleep.”  
She smiled at him, amused at his excuse. He, like all teens, didn’t want to admit that he still needed his parents sometimes. “You are more than welcome to join us. It’s been a long time since you crawled into the bed with me. Just keep your voice down.” She turned back to her other, soundly sleeping, son.  
“I can’t believe he actually fell asleep. He told me he wouldn’t sleep until he got back to you. I didn’t believe him, but he proved me wrong. He said the same thing to Dad on the way here.” David looked over her side to watch his brother sleep curled into her. “He looks so peaceful.”  
“Yes. It is amazing how he refuses to sleep even though he is exhausted, and then he continues until he collapses with fatigue. I could strangle him if I didn’t love him so much.”   
She stroked his face softly. “Let’s get some rest, shall we. We are all over due in that area, not just Jade.” With that they both settled back on the bed and slept. David draped an arm over his mother and brother as much for the contact as to protect. Delenn smiled at the gesture and took her elder son’s hand in her own. The other arm held Jade to her and they slept peacefully like that.

********************************B5***************************

John stood listening to Anla’Shok Montoya’s version of what had happened on Centauri Prime. John was intrigued by the fact that this Kay’Lynn had known Lennier for little more than a decade. He would have to find time to speak to her, and possibly get her to speak with Delenn about him. ‘It might help them both to heal,’ he thought.  
“Mr. President, we have received a signal from Anla’Shok Baker.”  
“Put it through.” John turned to stare at the display and Montoya joined him. A young man’s face came on the screen. He was light skinned with freckles on his face, and dark hair and eyes.   
“Mr. President, Entil’zha, I don’t know who will receive this, but it is of the utmost importance that one of you see this.” His voice was that of a young man. The face looked to be in its early twenties. A freckled hand reached forward and the view changed.   
Now they were looking outside the ship through a jump point. Through it John could see hundreds of Drakh ships. It looked like the entire force of ships in the possession of the Drakh. Then the coordinates of the fleet flashed on the display. “Take those coordinates. We’ll need them soon enough. Montoya, we’ll have to postpone the rest of your debriefing until further notice. This looks to be more important.” He left one of the ranking rangers in charge and decided that he’d get some rest after all.  
He entered the bedroom to find his and Delenn’s bed crowded with three people already, and all three were deep in sleep. He smiled at his elder son’s arm protecting his mother and brother. John sighed and crawled in beside Jade. Delenn opened her eyes momentarily and smiled at him. He too smiled, kissed her across Jade, and drifted off for a while.

********************************B5***************************

Ten hours after he’d lain down beside his family, John was back in the tactical center of the Star of Valen. He stood in front of the com in conference with Sechs Durhan and Turvall as well as Susan and Marcus. As per the doctor’s orders Delenn had remained with the boys in their suite.  
“We need to decide now if we want to attack them. If we do attack we are going to need more ships.”  
Durhan, on the bridge of one of the Whitestars, agreed. “We all saw the record. It is obvious that the ships we have here are not enough. We have maybe fifty undamaged ships at our disposal. If we pull more from the patrols it will cause problems with the other governments.”  
“I wasn’t suggesting that anyway. We’ll get them to donate more ships from their fleets, in exchange for our continued patrols.”  
Susan looked up from studying the latest reports, “We have done it before, I don’t see why we wouldn’t be able to do it again.”  
“I agree. Anyone else want to continue the discussion?”  
Turvall suggested, “Why waste our time? Just call them so that we can move before the Drakh fleet does.”  
“Yes, sir.” John answered. It didn’t matter that he was the president around Turvall. The aged Minbari instructor had a commanding presence that demanded respect. He showed that respect just as the instructor showed respect for John’s position if not age. He ended the transmission between the others and called the ambassadors of the member worlds of the Alliance.  
After a few battles of wits and even more cajoling and threats John was assured that his fleet would be met by ships enough to make this battle an easy one.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn sat with her leg propped up once more, she was tiring of the continued position, but it was easier to live with since her sons’ return. Jade lie on the couch beside her leg with his head on her thigh. They’d started out watching David play a video game on the computer and had the vid display his screen, but now she was sure Jade had dozed off. He lie with his back to the screen, hugging her leg and his face had raised to bury in her soft stomach. She gently stroked his hair, amazed by how very much she’d missed him. She hadn’t really realized it until she’d been awakened by the absence of his soft sleep sounds earlier that morning, even when he’d stayed in his own room the entire night the sounds he made drifted over the intercom that she’d put beside his bed. She realized that she’d missed those sounds everyday since they’d left him with Susan.  
David walked over and kissed her on the forehead, bringing her out of her thoughts, “Mother, why don’t you get some sleep too. I think I’m going to take a walk before I go stir crazy. These may be the best rooms on the cruiser, but I’ve been in them long enough that I’d rather to pull my teeth out than see them again. So I’m going to the training center to work on my sparing.”  
“All right, but be back before seventeen hundred. I don’t think your dad will approve of you wandering around in the middle of a war.” David smiled and kissed her forehead again then left the room. She roused her small son enough to scoot further down on the couch with him and get comfortable. He assumed his normal position cradled between her and the couch, face pillowed on her stomach when they snuggled together after lunch and sighed in contentment. She smiled and tightened her grip on him as she drifted off.

********************************B5***************************

Jade woke and found himself safe, in his mother’s arms. He looked up, expecting her to be watching him as usual, but found her face relaxed and softened from the lines of worry that he’d beheld since his and David’s return. As he watched she sighed and seemed to drift further into sleep. He smiled softly and rested his head once more on her stomach.  
After trying to sleep for long minutes he gave up, but didn’t want to move from her protective embrace, not only did he feel safe being held by her, but he was afraid to wake her. She needed rest as much as he and David did, after all, she was healing too. Again he smiled as her face took on a new expression. She looked like that only when she was lecturing him or David on proper etiquette in front of a guest. He wondered what her dreams were about.  
The door cycled and David walked in. “Afternoon, Jade.” He whispered.  
“Hi, be quiet, Mom’s asleep.” He warned in an equally soft whisper.  
“Want me to help you out of that predicament?” Jade, slightly so as not to wake her, shook his head.  
“Nah, I like snuggling with Mommy. I feel safe here.” He rested his head in the folds of her dress, burrowing in closer.  
“I know how you feel. I used to be the same way.” He watched his brother, more relaxed than he’d been in months, take a deep contented breath with his face still hidden in their mother’s dress. David remembered doing that, smelling the comforting mother smell of her. Neither noticed her watching them until her voice came from above them.  
“It pleases me to know that I am so loved.” Her voice was full of that same emotion and they looked up to see her smiling at them.  
“Sorry we woke you, Mommy. I didn’t mean to get loud.” He looked down at their feet.  
“That is quite all right, my little one. It was time for me to wake.” She lifted his gaze with fingers beneath his chin. “We both need to get up and do something productive anyway.” David shook his head and put a hand on her shoulder when she began to rise.  
“The doctors said that you should take it easy, Mom.” He reminded. “I think they meant stay off your feet period. I know it feels weird for you to be on a warship in the middle of a crisis, and not have anything to do, but its the doctor’s orders and Dad’s too. I ran into him by the way, and he said he’d be here in a bit to talk to you and that Jade and I should make ourselves scarce. He said he’d call me on the link when you’re finished. I figured that I’d take Jade on a tour of the ship. He did want to see one, if I’m remembering correctly.”  
Delenn nodded and looked down expecting elation to be written on his small face. Instead she saw fear and reluctance. “I don’t want to see the ship. I want to stay here with Mommy.” His small arms tightened on her hips.  
“But Dad has to talk to her about business. You know stuff we can’t know about. We have to go.” David hadn’t noticed his brother’s demeanor as he’d turned to get himself something to munch on from the cooling unit.  
Delenn watched her small one become adamant. “NO. I don’t want to go.” His voice was urgent as well as obstinate.  
“It’s not a choice, little brother.”  
Jade ignored him, “Mama, don’t make me go. Please. I don’t wanna leave you again.” He was looking up into her eyes pleadingly.  
She straightened on the couch and pulled him into her lap. “It’s all right, my son. You’re not going far. I wouldn’t let you leave now.”  
“No, Mommy, I don’t want to go away from you again. I don’t want to, please don’t make me.” Tears streaked his face and she hugged him close. Jade sobbed into her chest and held her just as tightly as he had the very first night she’d held him. David stood nearby with confusion written on his face.  
“What’d I say?” He almost sounded defensive.  
“Nothing, David, I’ve been waiting for this. He’s experiencing separation anxiety. He did the same on Babylon 5. You used to do the same thing, although not to this degree of severity.” She explained to him over the sobs, while rocking back and forth. “He will be all right in a few moments.” David was amazed at his mother’s knowledge, he didn’t remember acting like Jade was now. She had been right, the tears and sobs stopped as suddenly as they’d started. “Better now?” He nodded against her.  
“I don’t want to leave again.” He still sounded miserable. Delenn sighed mentally. ‘I should have foreseen that there would be more than the usual break down. He is different, you hope too much Delenn,’ she scolded herself. ‘What is so wrong with him being different though? He is yours, and he is John’s, and he loves you or he wouldn’t be acting this way. Enjoy it while you can, in a few years he will be David’s age and he won’t need you any longer.’ She started when a voice intervened in her mind.  
‘I’ll always need you Mommy, don’t feel bad.’ The voice consoled as a wave of guilt rolled over her. ‘I’m afraid to leave, Mommy. I’m afraid that you’ll go away for a long time again. I don’t ever want to go away from you again.’  
“I don’t want you to go either, but David is not taking you away. He’s showing you where I’ve been for the months that we’ve been apart. You will be back in a little while. Not long at all.” Even with her assurances he refused to go with David out of their suite. Finally, Delenn told David to take him in the other room, and told Jade that they were to stay there until she called them. Still he was reluctant, but finally allowed himself to be carried from the room. John walked through the door a few minutes later and they disappeared behind the door.

********************************B5***************************

John watched his elder son carry his smaller son from the room. Jade was looking over David’s shoulder watching Delenn with feral-like panic in his gaze. He dismissed it in deference to the more imminent problems. “Delenn, we have received information on the whereabouts of the Drakh fleet. The whole fleet, and we’ve held a conference, Susan and Marcus, Durhan and Turvall and I. We are going to take them out. We’ve contacted the others and more ships are on their way. I’m sure you aren’t going to like what I’m about to ask of you.” He’d begun speaking and pacing as soon as the bedroom door had closed.   
While it was normally an endearing trait that she loved to behold, at this moment with his tone of voice, it was driving her nuts. “John come and sit down before I get up and pace with you. Come and talk to me. Delaying the inevitable never saved anyone.”  
“I know.” He slowed his pacing and ran his fingers through gray hair then joined her on the couch. “I’m sorry. This is harder than I thought.” He took a deep breath. Delenn cupped his face with her right hand as she'd done numerous times before seeking and giving comfort, and just to feel him. This familiar gesture, worked its magic and he raised his eyes to hers. “I want you and the boys to take Mayan’s shuttle and go to the farm. I know, you want to be here,” he cut off her protest. “I want you here, but you’ve got a cast on your ankle and staying here and being in a hard fight won’t do you, your ankle, or the boys any good, especially Jade. I don’t like the way he’s been acting and I want him in a stable environment again. Besides, I want an excuse to go and see them after we settle everything.”  
She thought of protesting anyway, but the look in his eyes begged her to be cooperative, just this once. “All right. We will go, but you must call in and keep us, me, informed. I want a link with you at all times. I want to know what is happening here.”  
“Of course. That’s why I’m sending one of the Whitestars to escort you, and I think Montoya and his new friend would be a nice addition. I think going to Earth would be good for her. She needs to heal in more ways than the physical.” He smiled at his cleverness, and at being all too rarely one step ahead of his wife.  
“I guess we are taking Mayan’s shuttle so that it can be returned, otherwise we would just go on the Whitestar.”  
“That and so the three of you can really have some alone time. They missed you a lot. Speaking of, was Jade doing what I think he was doing just now?”  
“If you mean becoming hysterical at the thought of leaving my side for more than a few seconds, yes. John, I didn’t think of him still being afraid as he was. We have come a long way with him, but his reaction to David’s suggestion of leaving me to tour the ship proves just how far we still have to go. I wonder now if he will want to go to Susan’s next time. The way he acted seems to signify that we’ve just taken steps back in his healing. David had to literally peel him off of me to go into the bedroom.” She shook her head with dismay and worry.  
“I know. I thought that something like this would happen. I had hoped that he was past the point where a separation would affect him.” He took her in his arms and held her loosely against his chest. “We’ll just have to work extra hard to get him back to where we were, and the sooner we finish this war the sooner we can heal him.” He kissed her hair, and she turned and returned his caress with her own on his cheek. “We’d better start getting you packed if you’re going to leave before the others get here.” They hadn’t noticed the small boy standing in the now open bedroom doorway, nor the flustered teen who’d lost all control of his brother and was on the deck where he’d tripped over the ferret not wanting to step on it and squash it.  
“NO, Mommy can’t leave. You promised Mom.” His tears were falling again and his voice had risen to a screech broken by sobs. Where his hand gripped the doorframe the knuckles where white, and he looked reluctant to enter further. “You said you wouldn’t leave. That I wouldn’t have to be apart from you. Don’t go!” Both adults turned sharply to take in the hysterical child, and the teen picking himself up off the deck..  
“Jade Sheridan, come here.” Delenn’s voice was gentle, but held an underlying steel that had been apparent in every major battle she’d ever participated in, but never more prominent than when she told numerous EarthForce cruisers to ‘be somewhere else.’ Their son walked into the room and over to her. She pulled out of John’s arms and gently grasped her son’s. “You were supposed to stay in the other room until I called you.” His face held no guilt only hysterical grief. “I am not going anywhere without you or David.” John watched the tears still falling as Jade fought and failed to regain control. He was beginning to see what his wife was talking about.  
“She’s right, Jade. You’re going with her.” He said hoping to appease the boy for the moment. Jade latched onto his mother and refused to let go again. John didn’t like the reaction, but knew it wouldn’t be helped at this moment. Jade needed time to realize that they were never going to leave him willingly. That they hadn’t left willingly before either. He needed the time to overcome his fears, which was another reason he wanted them to go to the farm with Delenn. He’d be in a more stable situation there, not a constant state of alarm or battle. “Jade, Mom’s going to take you and David to return Mayan’s ship.”  
The little face looked over at him fear and worry etched in his features and shining in his eyes. “She’s not gonna leave us?”  
“No, dear one, I’m taking you with me.” She soothed him with a dulcet voice.  
He took deep cleansing, calming breaths as David joined them, handing the ferret to its owner. “Sorry, I tried to keep him in there. It appears that he has a very small ally, and I was overpowered.” David tried to make light of the situation taking the focus off of Jade’s hysteria.  
“That’s all right, David. He was determined to get back out here to Mom. This is why I want you three to go to the farm and wait out the rest of this war. I’ll come get you as soon as its over.”  
This set Jade off again. “NO, Dad you come too. I don’t want to leave you either.” John, while flattered that Jade hadn’t left him out, was becoming impatient with is son’s irrationality.  
“Jade, someone has to stay here and make sure things are handled properly.” He reached out and pulled his son into his own arms. “Mom can’t because she’s hurt. That leaves me, because I need you and David to make sure she stays off her feet and eats right.” He hoped like hell this strategy worked on the anxious boy.  
“So we got a job to do?” John nodded. “And our job is to protect Mommy and take care of her and help her get better?” Again the nod of acknowledgment.  
“That’s exactly right, Jade.” He kissed the small forehead. “Do you accept this mission?” Jade nibbled his lip for a moment in thought, reminding John of Susan. He nodded then, and hugged his father fiercely.  
“I’ll do my best.” He released his father and gave a military salute he’d witnessed Susan use before. John returned it and ruffled the boy’s hair with a chuckle which earned him a grin in return.  
“Come on, let’s get you three packed.” He stood and helped his wife to stand as well and supported her as they hobbled to the bedroom. They spent an hour packing the clothes and things they’d need. Then John contacted Montoya and instructed him to pack as well. The ranger had begun to protest when John cut him off saying he should get Kay’Lynn packed as well. The protest died and Montoya let John explain what was going on. The Ranger agreed when he finished and signed off after John said that they’d be leaving the next morning.  
John invited Ivanova and Marcus to eat with them, and told them that tonight’s shift was theirs and he was going to spend the night with his family. They should only contact him in an emergency. He spent the rest of the evening holding Jade on his lap and listening to and telling stories. Jade spoke of his experiences at school and on the farm. Delenn didn’t say much, but was content to listen to the boys speak and exaggerate. The four of them eventually tired out and Delenn carried Jade into their bedroom. John draped a blanket over the already sleeping David, where he’d crashed out on the couch. He joined Delenn and Jade in the large bed and cradled both of them close on this last night together.

********************************B5***************************

The alarm went off early and Susan groaned, hoping the vocalization would shut off the alarm. It didn’t. “Turn off the alarm, computer.” She rolled over and pulled the pillow over her eyes to block out the low lights that had come on with the alarm. No sooner than she’d gotten comfortable enough to doze off Marcus walked in and plucked the pillow from beneath her hand so that he could kiss her good morning. “No, Marcus, it’s still dark out.”  
“We’re in space again, love, it’s always dark out.” He kissed her again.  
“I hate this,” she said sitting up and running a hand through her hair.  
“I know, you always have, but hopefully it won’t be much longer and we can go home. Speaking of, you’d better get dressed if you want to see off Delenn and the boys. John wants them to leave as soon as possible so that when the rest of the ships arrive we can just head out.” He caressed her soft cheek with the backs of his fingers.  
“Yeah, I know. Let me up then, so I can get dressed. Have they called yet,” she asked.  
“Yes, Jade says that they’re heading to the shuttle with luggage and things. He’ll call us when they get back and are having breakfast. He has invited us to eat with them.” Marcus finished with a kiss to her brow when her eyes drifted closed again.  
“Okay, I’m getting up.” She protested and kissed him back before evading him and slipping out of bed. She took a quick sonic shower and then pulled on a clean uniform. Marcus was waiting for her in the kitchenette. “Satisfied?”  
“I suppose. Let’s head on. Jade called again while you were in the shower. They’re holding breakfast for us.” He reached out handing her a cup of freshly brewed coffee. She groaned in pleasure at the smell.  
“You, are a saint.” She accepted the cup and sipped the dark brown liquid.  
“I know. Come on.” He led the way out the door and she captured his hand as they walked, intertwining her fingers with his as they strolled down the awakening corridors. Susan rang the chime to announce their arrival.  
She and Marcus then stepped passed David into the suite. “Good morning.” He greeted them.  
“Morning, and yes I suppose it is a good one.”  
“Hey, David. Where is everyone?” Susan asked looking around.  
“Jade wigged out again when Mom left the room to finish packing some stuff. They took him into the bedroom to talk about things.” He replied dryly. “They should be back in a minute. Dad said to tell you to go on and start. They’ll join us when they’re done.”  
“Separation anxiety still?” Marcus received a nodded answer. Susan shook her head.   
“I knew it. He wasn’t ready to be away from Delenn, even to come and stay with us. I shouldn’t have pushed so hard. I guess I’ll know next time.”  
“It’s not you, Aunt Susan. He was as excited to go to stay with you as you were to have him coming. It’s just all the stuff that happened on top of it, and he was away from Mom longer that he should have been. He hadn’t seen her for almost three months, you know, when we finally got back.” David didn’t want her to blame herself for something that couldn’t have been helped. He knew that deep down she also knew she wasn’t to blame.  
“Thank you, David. Let’s get some breakfast before it gets cold, hm?” She took a swallow of her coffee and directed the three of them to the table.

********************************B5***************************

Jade entered the front room silently and walked to sit at the table beside Susan. She smiled down at him. “Good Morning, Dushenka.”   
“Hi, Susochke.” David recognized the subdued demeanor. Jade had just received a major lecture from their mom and dad. He’d often had the same reaction to the lectures and discipline.  
Susan picked up on Jade’s unease and asked if he was all right. “Yeah. I’m okay. I guess.” Delenn walked in then and shook her head at his discomfiture.  
“Get your breakfast, Jade. There is no sense in not eating.” She bent and rested her head beside his to whisper. “You’re not in trouble. We just want you to stop overreacting every time I leave your sight.” Jade nodded and cocked his head to the side to look at her while she spoke. “If you’ll eat now you can sit with me after you are done. Okay?”  
He nodded. “Okay. Love you, Mom.” She smiled and kissed his forehead.  
“I love you too, my little one. Now eat.” She walked around to her seat while Jade busied himself filling his plate. John entered a few minutes later and took his place by Delenn watching Jade for a moment, with a tender look in his eyes and a sad grin on his face, then greeting their guests. Everything settled down after that, and they enjoyed their meal.

********************************B5***************************  
“What is the first thing you’re going to do when you get to Earth, Dushenka?” Susan asked as they walked to the shuttle. It was sitting silently, idle in the bustling hangar waiting for its occupants to arrive.  
“I’m gonna apologize to Shal Mayan and her pilot, and then I’m gonna apologize to Gramma and Grampa for scaring them, and then I’m gonna call Avery and see how he’s doing and find out what is going on in school.” He said as he rested his head on her shoulder.  
“Sounds like a good plan to me. Tell Avery I said hi.”   
“I will, and his mom too. You take care of my dad, okay, and Marcus too.”  
“Of course, that’s why I’m staying.” He smiled at the comment and she felt it through her uniform jacket. All too soon they had arrived at the shuttle. Jade hugged her goodbye and then pulled away to go to his dad.  
“I’m gonna miss you again, Dad.” He didn’t sound happy about this at all, but he did sound resigned.  
John knelt and pulled the boy to him. “I’ll miss you too, son, all of you. Hopefully, though it won’t be too much longer.”  
“I’m sorry I got scared before breakfast. I get scared and I don’t know why.” John heard the tears in Jade’s voice. His lips came together in a grim line, he felt guilty about his lecture to Jade earlier. He understood very well that the boy was confused and scared. He’d overreacted as much as had his son, and he’d decided to make it up to him and Delenn later. She’d glared at him the whole time he’d been speaking, but he hadn’t listened to the wiser side of himself that said to shut his mouth and had continued the lecture.  
“That’s okay pal, I shouldn’t have been so hard on you. I do understand that you’re scared and the reasons why. I’m not mad at you, son. I’m frustrated that I can’t make you feel safe again.”  
“But I do, dad. I feel safe, but I still get scared. I wasn’t scared while I was there. Well, I was but not like I am now, and I don’t know why I am more scared now. I’m sorry.” His tired eyes fell to the floor.  
“It’s not your fault, Jade, and things will get better after everything settles down again. Tell you what, for as long as this lasts you hold on to mom as long and as tightly as you want, okay?” He got a slow nod. “Then when we get home and everything calms down you can work on not being scared and so can I.” Jade looked at him disbelieving.  
“You’re scared?”  
“Very much so. I’m scared all the time that I’m not doing the right things to help you. That I’m making the wrong decision for this government or that one. When you screamed so loud this morning I was scared to death that you’d been hurt or worse.”  
Jade looked stricken. “I’m sorry I scared you, Dad.” He quickly apologized.  
“I know. I’m sorry I lectured for so long. You didn’t deserve it, and I’ll find some way to make it up to you when I get home.”  
Jade nodded, “You don’t have to though, Dad.”  
“Yes, I do. I want you to understand that I will never give up on you, that I’ll be there for as long as I can. Don’t forget that, okay?”  
“I won’t. I promise.” John then pulled him close and said goodbye. He knew that it might be the last time he would see his little boy. He hoped he’d make it back to spend the few years he had with them, but he knew nothing was set.

********************************B5***************************

The rest of the group had said their goodbyes when John let Jade loose, and trailed his finger down the center of his small face, Jade returned the gesture. He had one more hug for his Susochke and then he boarded the shuttle to stow his bag and wait for his mom to join him. He knew that she and David needed time with his dad too, and didn’t begrudge either of them their moments. David hugged his Dad, and followed Jade. Susan and Marcus also left to give them a private goodbye.  
Delenn held her husband close for a long moment. “Thank you for talking to him. He was very upset all through breakfast thinking you were angry with him. Whatever you said to him just now helped a great deal. I can feel his mind reaching out to me, but it’s not so desperate as before, and I believe he’s left me for the moment. He is learning when to intrude and when not to.”  
“I’m sorry that I lectured him. I really do understand how scared he is, and I know that he needs you more now than he did when we left him with Susan. I just hate that every time we heal him a little we have a setback like this. Well, maybe not so large a setback as this, but I feel like I’m beating my head against a wall right now.”  
“It will get better. You and I will make it better and next time, Valen forbid there is a next time, we’ll know what not to do. Don’t worry over it now. You will need all your focus on the Drakh. I love you, Mr. President.”  
“I love you too, Entil’zha. Watch out for our family, okay?” The only answer he got was a long open-mouthed kiss. Rarely did his wife initiate such intimacy in so public a setting, so he was a little surprised, but he quickly regained his equilibrium and returned her passion and worries with equal tenderness. “See you soon, beautiful.”  
“If I don’t see you again in this life. I will see you in a little while in the place where no shadows fall, my love.” She cupped his face as she had the first time she’d shared those words with him, and let her hand linger longer this time and felt it tingle when he turned his face and kissed her palm. “I’ll contact you when we arrive.” Then she leaned in for a last kiss as his arms tightened around her. They parted and she boarded the Te’La behind their sons. John turned and left the hangar heading for the tactical center. He got there in time to see the shuttle leave the bay, and take up position by the Whitestar that would serve as their escort. He cleared their request to depart and watched as the Whitestar opened a jump point and the ships disappeared.  
Susan watched the ships departure from behind him and sighed as they disappeared. John turned at the sound. “I second that motion, Susan, but it’s almost over.” As if to punctuate his declaration, jump points began opening all around them. Amid the many vortexes of swirling blue the reinforcements had arrived.


	17. Chapter 17

********************************B5***************************

Delenn watched David pilot the shuttle out of the hangar of The Star Of Valen and was impressed at how far his pilots lessons had come. He took position beside their escort and waited for the all clear to depart. Once it was received and the jump point opened he didn’t hesitate to move them out. She noticed the tension in his shoulders as he worked the controls and smiled at his nervousness. Deciding to take pity on her oldest son, Delenn commented, “You’re doing well David. A few more lessons and I think you’ll make a wonderful pilot. Relax and concentrate on your instruments instead of impressing me.”  
He smiled softly and she noticed some of the tension leave his shoulders and neck. “Thanks, I guess I’m a little nervous in front of you. I bet I’d be worse if Dad were here though.” His eyes never left his console as he spoke. “Thanks for letting me get the practice.”  
“You are very welcome. I wanted to see how your lessons had progressed, and what better way than to allow you to pilot for me.” She was interrupted by an inquiry from the back of the shuttle.  
“Mom, can I get up yet?” She shook her head wryly and told him that it was safe to unstrap now. She heard the clicks of the restraints pop free, and a few seconds later the small footsteps out in the corridor. Then he was loitering in the hatchway between the pilot’s compartment and the corridor leading to the other rooms on the shuttle.  
“Get in here you little scamp.” She said as she turned to him. He smiled shyly.  
“Hi.” He hadn’t moved yet seeming to be unsure if she’d been joking or serious.  
“Hello, come to me, my little one.” His smile grew and he was in her arms. “How are you now?”  
He burrowed himself against her. “Better now.” He sighed happily. “I missed you, so much, Mommy.” His noticeably thin arms slithered around her to hold on tight. Hers encircled him as well.  
“I missed you too, little one. Let me contact the Whitestar and then we can set the autopilot and have some down time together. What would you say to a reading lesson?”  
“I thought you’d never ask, Mom.” Delenn was taken by surprise. She had anticipated his reluctance even refusal, not the relieved acceptance.  
She sat him back and looked him in the eye. “You really were homesick, were you not?” There was a sadness in his eyes as he nodded. “Then I suppose we will have a very long lesson today.”  
“Good.” He snuggled closer again and she kissed the top of his head to soothe them both.  
“Can I help with his lessons, Mom?” David asked from his seat, he’d missed his mother too.   
“Of course, we’ll be reading from your comic books, no doubt. Yes?” David gave her a lopsided smile. “I suppose it is better than nothing. Let me contact Anla’Shok Montoya now.” Both her boys fell silent as she contacted the ranger. As soon as David heard him clear them for autopilot he had it engaged. “All right,” she said after concluding the call, “let’s get to work.”  
Jade enjoyed the comics with David in English, after David retrieved them from a secret compartment that even the Drakh had overlooked, and in Adronato with his mother. They made up stories after finishing the comics. After they’d each told three stories Delenn decided that it was time for lunch. After lunch the three of them relaxed and talked comfortably. Delenn found herself clinging to both of them in a delayed reaction to her worry over them.   
By the end of the day, when he crawled under the covers of the flat mattress that Mayan had installed for him, David was ready for a vacation from both his mother and little brother. Delenn slept on Mayan’s Minbari style bed and Jade gave it a shot on his own, but kept sliding down the bed. Delenn chuckled at his efforts then wrapped her arms around him keeping him close and steady on the bed. He thanked her and they drifted off to sleep.

********************************B5***************************

John waited patiently while reports poured in. The scouts were back and all reported that the Drakh were still massing their fleet in the former Markab sector. Ivanova pointed out that it was a pity the Drakh weren’t affected by the plague. He’d found it vaguely amusing while trying to concentrate on reports. Now he was in the middle of a waiting game. He wanted to be sure that as many of the Drakh were accounted for as could be, before taking them on. He’d been watching them for two days now and so far a few ships arrived to join every hour. When his reinforcements had arrived they out-gunned the Drakh two to one. Now the Drakh were almost to the same numbers as his fleet.  
The other races were already starting to complain, and he was almost out of patience for their nonsense. “Yes, General Fi’Shon, we are going to attack, but I want to make sure to hit as many of their ships as possible.” He yelled back at the Drazi on the view.  
“So you say, Mr. President, but still we sit here like a bunch of cowards.”  
So that was what this was about. “No, not cowards I assure you.” He no longer yelled, but his voice was now dangerous. “Cautious warriors but not cowards. Not every battle should be charged into blindly, and I am still coordinating with the new arrivals to solidify our plan of attack.” The young Drazi’s bright green color muted to the normal dull dark green by the time John was finished speaking and his voice held respect once more.  
“You are right, sir. I was out of line and I am deeply sorry. You are a wise leader. The Drazi will await your command before attacking.”  
“I will tell you that it won’t be much longer Fi’Shon. I’ve almost finished with the preparations. Stand by.” John then cut the link, and turned to Lenann who had taken Delenn’s place. “What do you think about the plan?”  
“I would say that it is sound. If they are massing to leave the area then they will make no aggressive move toward a small group of ships, but if they do move we are nearby to prevent their loss. It is neat and tidy, John.”  
“Glad someone agrees with me. I guess, let’s get started. Everyone is antsy, and I’m sick of arguing with them. All I want is to go home.”  
“Let’s get moving then.” The Minbari stepped over to his console as John called up the rest of the fleet.  
“Okay people we are sending you finalized plans for attack. Review them carefully. Those of you going out with the first party contact me when you’re ready.” Susan, on the lead Whitestar, was the first to reply, others came in one or two at a time after that until all were ready. John gave them the okay and they jumped to normal space making their way toward the Drakh position.

********************************B5***************************

In the cool of mid-morning they arrived, Delenn and the boys had been greeted with hugs and ushered inside. Mayan had spoken to both boys privately and they’d come to the agreement that the two of them would be arranging her library as Delenn had suspected. Mayan didn’t want to press charges against her dear friends. Nancy had pulled them to her and kissed them be sure that they were unharmed. David, the elder, had been stoic at first. Showing his disappointment in the two of them. Delenn saw that the disappointment upset David more than Jade, which took her by surprise with the way he’d acted before. She could tell Jade was upset by the way he clung to her skirts and the look in his eyes as he watched his brother promise to do anything to make it up to his grandfather.  
David, the elder, had listened to the remorse and then said simply, “Don’t let it happen again, Davy.” At that David, the younger, sighed in relief and hugged his grandfather.  
Jade’s trial began with his introduction to Mayan’s pilot. He was a human male that stood half as tall as the 12 foot struts that the shuttle rested upon, with reddish hair, and a neatly trimmed goatee. Mayan introduced him as Captain Andrews. Jade had stepped away from Delenn then and introduced himself.  
“I was the one that made you leave the ship so we could take it. I’m very sorry that I got you into trouble, sir. If there is something I can do to make up for the trouble we caused you, I’ll do it. I didn’t want to trick you like that, but we needed the ship to find our mom and dad.”  
The tall man smiled down at the boy. “Don’t worry son, Shal Mayan is a very understanding lady. She knew more about what had happened than I did. Thank you for the apology, but I have no right to punish you. I’m sure your parents and Mayan have worked something out.” Jade nodded and the man chuckled at the defeated look the boy gave. “See, that look says it all. I’m satisfied with whatever they are giving you for punishment.”  
“I really am sorry sir.” Jade didn’t know what else to say after that, and neither did the pilot so Delenn spoke with the man for a moment and took Jade back inside.   
Almost two weeks had passed since then. Jade had regained some of the lost weight, no longer appearing gaunt and he was sleeping soundly so long as his mother was nearby. David’s bruises were healed, and he chose to help his Grampa with chores on the farm to start making amends for his actions. Delenn had a check up with Franklin in a few days on her ankle, and he wanted to see Jade too. Delenn and Kay’Lynn were getting to know one another quite well, and both were comforted by the knowledge that Lennier had known someone who cared when they had thought he had no one. She spent time with Mayan speaking of times past and present, and inconsequential. For the first week Jade had been by her side every moment that he could get away with. Which as far as Nancy was concerned was most of the time and far too often. Delenn eased her mind though by giving Jade lessons in Adronato and reading when Nancy had become worried he was spending too much time at her side. He had finally gotten comfortable being out of sight of her, though and began exploring the thickets near the stream always with Baldor on his shoulder.

********************************B5***************************

“Well, they’ve done a good job on the break, if it can be called that. You’ll be able to walk without the brace in the next couple of days. I’d like for you to check with your own doctors first though. Jade is looking much better since I saw him last.” Franklin commented off-handedly while checking the readings he was getting. Jade was sitting on the bed beside Delenn, holding her hand. He’d held her hand like that in his other doctor visits and she was used to his reaching for her.   
Franklin suggested they do another skin treatment and Delenn agreed. Jade groaned at the prospect, but perked up a little when he realized that she was going to stay with him. The fact of the matter was that she didn’t have anywhere else to be. David had decided to stay on the farm with his grandparents and his older cousin Matt, who’d shown up early that morning to check on the ‘old timers’ as he’d put it. Besides she’d never left him before, and she didn’t see the point in leaving him now.  
After the treatment he experienced the familiar nausea and crankiness that accompanied it. Delenn tried to placate him as much as possible, carrying him when she knew he should be walking on his own, but she felt bad for him and did her best to make him feel better. She even contacted Elizabeth Lochley, who’d been inordinately surprised, and asked to meet her that afternoon in the company of her son. Lochley had agreed readily and they had set a time to meet in one of the meeting rooms there in EarthDome.   
Avery had been busy since Jade had disappeared. He had been upset when he’d tried to call and was told that Jade was not going to be able to talk to him for a while. So it was a great surprise when he followed his mother into the circular meeting room and saw his friend sitting in the lap of a lady he’d only seen pictures of. “Wow, hi, Jade. Where ya been? I tried to call you and your Gramma said that you couldn’t talk.”  
“I was gone, Avery. Me and David-” He paused and corrected himself silently. “David and I went to find our mom and dad. They were lost for a while. Then we were too.” He looked back at Delenn for a sign that he’d said too much. She’d explained to him as they waited what he could and could not tell his friend. She nodded that he’d done okay, and he relaxed a little. The nausea had abated for the moment and he was feeling well enough, but Delenn knew from past experience that it was most likely only a brief respite.  
Lochley greeted her formally, even though this was a decidedly informal meeting. Delenn reminded her of that fact gently, using the other woman’s first name for emphasis that this was to be casual. Lochley got the picture and they settled in to listen to the two boys converse and play. Lochley watched Jade sitting on Delenn’s lap, he looked somehow happier than she’d seen him look before. He certainly looked healthier, although he seemed a little green around the gills to her. She and Delenn held their own conversation when the two boys lapsed into silence periodically and she explained that she’d be leading a fleet out to help John and the others. Neither boy was happy to be cooped up in a board room, but Delenn had been adamant. She didn’t want to draw undue attention to them. ISN was dying for an interview about the battle with the Drakh, and still after an interview with Jade.  
They had enjoyed the visit with their friends, and were now landing back on the farm. Delenn helped Jade down the ramp as he’d just gotten over being sick again. When they were about halfway to the house Jade pulled away and walked on his own looking much better than he had. “I’m okay now, Mommy.” He assured her. “You can go on in if you want. I wanna stay out in the air for a little while. I’ll be okay, and I’ll be there in a minute.” He still looked shaky to her, but she nodded to him understanding his need to get himself under control.  
“I’ll be inside when you need me, my little one.” He nodded and she walked on ahead. Jade bypassed the house and walked around to look up at the clouded sky between the house and the barn. He continued to walk slowly past the barn toward the lake. He was concentrating so hard on keeping his breathing even and his stomach from rebelling he didn’t sense the woman sneaking up behind him from the bushes.   
He had just gotten himself back to normal when a bare hand closed hard over his throat. He let out a shriek as he recognized the hand, but she cut him off in mid scream. Try as he might he couldn’t break past her hold on his mind.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn heard the blood-curdling shriek and ran out the door toward where it had come from. She rounded the barn and was met with a sight that chilled her blood so that she thought she might faint. A sweaty David was soon beside her, having heard the scream as well from his place in the loft of the barn pitching hay down for the horses. He’d jumped down and run to see what was the matter, and now stood watching and trying to get his breathing under control.  
Before them stood a Psi-Cop. One of her hands, sans the glove, was pressed against Jade’s neck. The other held a PPG to his temple. His eyes were wide with terror. It tore at Delenn’s heart to see him looking to her for help and knowing, without knowing how she knew, that if she made a move toward them, her son would surely be killed. The black-clad woman looked vaguely familiar to her.  
“That’s right, one move and I blow his little head off. He shouldn’t have screamed. I wanted to avoid this scene, but I suppose that some things are meant to be. I’ll just go back to my ship now, and I don’t want any of you following me.” So wrapped up in each other were they that they didn’t notice the red-haired woman stride from the bushes with a PPG in her own hand. She wasn’t noticed until the PPG rested firmly against the Psi-Cop’s head. She then let her defenses drop and Delenn was the first to gasp recognition.  
“Don’t move, Corps.” Lyta’s tone was soft and deadly. Everything froze in that moment. Delenn felt the summer breeze billow past with the faint scent of changing seasons. She noticed that Jade was completely frozen, not even breathing. She sensed the anger in her older son beside her and could feel the eyes of Nancy and David and Mayan behind them watching the tableau in horror. She could feel the heat of the late afternoon sun on her crest and hair, but movement and thought on her own part felt like the slow oozing of the molasses that Nancy kept for the pancakes she sometimes made for breakfast. Until Lyta spoke again, then everything snapped back into sharp focus. “Let him go, or your brain will be his new hat.”  
The dark haired woman let the bare hand fall away from her little one’s neck and his scream finished. She beckoned Jade to her, and he bolted into her arms burrowing close. Delenn turned back to watch the two telepaths in front of them.  
Lyta calmly lowered her PPG. “Smartest thing you ever did, Ashley.” She acknowledged the other woman.  
“No, my biggest failure.”  
“I suggest you leave. I have no desire to kill you, but if you threaten that child again I certainly won’t hesitate.” She watched as the Psi-Cop made up her mind. Then turned and began walking away. Lyta didn’t take her eyes off of the Psi-cop focusing everything she had on protecting her prize pupil.

********************************B5***************************

Kay’Lynn watched as the woman with red hair let the PsiCorps filth leave. “You STOP where you are.” She’d been standing against he back of the barn in the shade to get a little peaceful alone time. As the words left her mouth heads turned to stare at her, and the PPG she held aimed at the psi-cop’s head. “If they won’t do us all a favor I will, but I’d like to know who’s family I should contact to tell them the one responsible for their child’s murder is dead. What is you name, Teep?”  
“I am Lauren Ashley. I served as assistant to Alfred Bester until his death a few months ago. His last orders were that the boy should be part of the corps, I’ve failed to carry them out. So, whom will you be informing?”  
Kay’Lynn’s eyes had narrowed with hate as the names had been uttered. “I’ll be informing many, but none more important than the spirits of my family. Say hello to my sister when you apologize for killing her child with your damn virus.” With the last word from her mouth Kay’Lynn pulled the trigger and the other woman’s body fell to the ground unmoving.

********************************B5***************************

Jade started violently in Delenn’s arms as the PPG shot was fired. Then his little body began to tremble all over against her as the sobs escaped and the adrenaline left his system. She gave orders to the rangers that had shown up to detain Kay’Lynn and clean up the gruesome scene. She then pulled Jade quickly away, making certain that he didn’t look back, around the front of the barn so they could no longer see the body or the clean up efforts. She then knelt to look him in the eye searching for anything wrong. His eyes held fear but nothing was missing from them. Relief flooded through her as his mind reached out to touch hers assuring her and himself in the only way he was able in that moment. She then checked him over physically noting the angry, red hand print on the left side of his neck. It would be a bruise most likely. Other than the print there was nothing, no cuts or blood. He looked pale but who wouldn’t after having a gun pointed at their head. She pulled him close once more and held him to her snugly.  
“Mama,” his whisper further calmed her frazzled nerves.  
“What is it, my son? Are you all right?” She pulled away to look at him while he spoke. He shook his head no.  
“I’m gonna be sick again.” She then noticed the tensed muscles in his neck. He was straining against the heaves in a valiant attempt to forgo vomiting. “I think I can make it to the bathroom.” He swallowed thickly again fighting off a gag attack. She didn’t quite believe him so she asked if he was sure he’d make it. “Maybe not.” He answered before turning around and pulling free to retch on the dusty ground away from her.   
He was on his hands and knees, to support himself knowing that if he tried to stand he’d end up in it. Delenn was behind him helping as much as she could, soothing his back trying to calm him knowing that was all that she could do. This was one of the motherly duties that she’d never get used to, but she did understand it having been there herself. ‘At least you didn’t join him.’ She reasoned with herself. ‘John would have, and then he’d have no one to help clean him up.'

********************************B5***************************

David rounded the corner to welcome the sight of his mother kneeling beside his vomiting little brother. He made a face and gagged himself before turning away and calling, “Mom, you guys need any help?”  
“No, David, we will be all right in a moment.” Jade finished emptying his stomach, coughed and spat out the bad taste before sitting back on his heels.  
“Mama, I still don’t feel so good. I need a towel.” His voice held sobs in check.  
“I’ll get one, Mom. Hang on one second.” David ran for the house. He entered the kitchen and grabbed one of the towels out of the drawer. Then one of the wash rags that his grandmother kept in the drawer with the hand towels. He stuck it under the running water and wrung it out before taking it and the towel back to his brother.   
Delenn accepted the towel and cloth from David and cleaned her small son’s face and hands. He hadn’t let her pull him close again after David had gone. He hadn’t wanted to get her dirty. After she’d cleaned the vomit from his mouth and hands though she didn’t listen to his protests and lifted him off the ground as she stood. Nancy had returned to the house after they had disappeared. She now met them as they walked to the house. “Is he all right, Delenn?”  
“Yes, thank Valen. I think it would be wise for us to stay inside for a while though. He says that he doesn’t feel well.”  
“I’d say it’s a good idea then. Can I ask who that was?” She took the soiled towels from Delenn, freeing her to hold Jade with both arms, as she listened to the explanation that Kay’Lynn was there to heal, and how she would now be spending all her time on the Whitestar. “Could there be more of those Psi-cops out there?”  
“I do not think so, but the ranger’s will be on a double alert now.” They entered though the kitchen.  
Nancy took the towel on through to the wash room where the thermal units were. “You two go get settled on the couch. Ms. Alexander said she’d be in to talk to Jade in a moment.”

********************************B5***************************

Delenn had already settled herself and Jade on the smaller sofa in the den and had him situated comfortably though miserably on her lap, resting sideways against her. Nancy came in before long asking if he wanted some milk or a snack. His face paled again at the mention of food, and Delenn suggested a glass of water to settle his stomach a little. Jade agreed to that and leaned back into her resting his head below her chin. Nancy returned with the water and Delenn helped him sip it slowly. He looked better after a few sips.  
Lyta knocked before entering the house. Nancy had returned to the kitchen with the remnants of the water and let her in. “You didn’t have to knock, dear.”  
“I know, but I thought it best if I announced myself. Is Jade okay?” It looked to Nancy that this pretty younger woman was nervous just standing there in the room.  
“Yes, he’s okay. He’s in the den with his mama. Here, I’ll take you to them.” She led the way to Delenn and Jade. Jade was on his side beside Delenn this time with his head in her lap and his legs curled up close to his body. She was running her fingers through his hair soothing away the remnants of his shock and fear and illness. Lyta walked over and sat herself in front of them on the floor.  
“Hi there, how’s my star pupil these days?”  
“I’m okay I guess. A little better now than a few minutes ago.” He turned his head to look up at his mom.  
“Jade, look at me please.” Lyta watched him close as his eyes again met hers. “Let your blocks down okay. Let me take a look inside and make sure she didn’t do anything to you.” He nodded and relaxed his guard. Delenn felt when Lyta entered his mind by the tensing of every muscle in his small body. “Jade, calm down, let me look. I’m not touching anything or changing anything. Don’t shut me out yet.” He relaxed again.  
Lyta sat back after a few moments. “You’re clear, sweetheart. She didn’t do anything.” Delenn felt her last lingering doubts flutter out the window and sighed in relief.  
“Thank you, Lyta. I was worried that she had hurt him in some way.” Jade sat up and moved hip to thigh with his mother leaning back against her side.  
“Yeah, thank you. You saved me. I couldn’t make her stop. She was keeping me from moving or screaming, and I didn’t know how to get her away from me. It was like she just turned me off, like a light. I didn’t like it.”  
“No I imagine you didn’t. I wouldn’t like it either.” Lyta reached out a hand to him. Jade placed his hand in hers and returned her reassuring squeeze.  
“How come you’re here, Miss Lyta?” He tilted his head to one side watching her.  
“Well, I was watching Ms. Ashley for one thing, that’s why I haven’t been around to teach you in a while. For another I found some things out about your abilities that I wanted to test. That is if you’re willing to let me.” She watched him questioningly.

********************************B5***************************

Jade looked up, to the right at his mother. She was watching him. He looked back to Lyta’s questioning eyes. “It won’t hurt, will it?”  
“Of course not. Jade, I’ll never, ever hurt you. Okay?” He nodded. “No, I mean it I’m not like PsiCorps. If you don’t want me to do this I won’t, but it’s the only way to know if what I found is true.”  
He frowned, wanting to let her, but afraid to. “Maybe you could tell me about what you found and then I could know if you need to do, whatever it is, or not.”  
Lyta smiled, “Fair enough. I learned that your abilities may not be natural they may have been created by the Corps.”  
“But I can touch people and block them and stuff.”  
“Yes, they gave you the basic abilities but can you force your way into another mind, Jade? Can you punch through someone’s blocks and the background noise and take what you want?”  
He shrugged, “I don’t know. I never tried. Unless what I did with the pilot counts, or maybe hiding our stuff from the Dark Men, but you taught me to do that.”  
“What did you do to the pilot?”  
“I went in his mind and made him think that someone was calling him off the ship so that David and I could take it.”  
“No, it’s close to what I was talking about, but not exactly. I’d have to show you. Think of something and try to block me from getting it.” Jade nodded and Delenn watched the silent battle between the two of them. Every few seconds Lyta’s head would snap back when she was blocked. Eventually Jade began to perspire in her arms and finally Lyta stopped them and he wiped his brow on his sleeve.  
“Like that, have you ever done to another what I did to you?” Jade looked away from them shaking his head violently, adamantly, no. “Then we may need to try--” Delenn cut her off.  
“Jade, have you done that before?” He shook his head more violently than before and Delenn pulled his face around to study it. He was fighting off tears again. “Did you do these things, Jade?” Again the shake of his head, but a whimper escaped his throat. “Jade,” Her voice lowered and softened, trying to calm him. “Tell me what you did that upsets you so.” He shook all over now and refused again.  
“No, Mama, please don’t make me.” He began fighting her arms around him.  
“Jade, I will not be angry with you. Tell me. Now.” Her voice had firmed considerably and Lyta watched in awe. “You have done this thing before, have you not?” A sob broke free and Jade nodded.  
“Yes, but I didn’t want to. They made me do it, and didn’t mean to hurt him. But I didn’t want to get hit again. They kept hitting me and shocking me and I didn’t want them to do it anymore, so I did it and the man stopped moving and there was blood. But I didn’t mean to hurt him, Mommy. I’m sorry.” He refused to look her in the face any longer and his fight became more fierce. Delenn wasn’t having any of it though, she pulled him back into her lap and held him immobile against her. “Let go, Mommy, let go. I did bad things, let me go.”  
“I will not let you go. Not until I am ready to let you go, until you are ready for me to let you go. Those things were not your doing. Others forced you to harm him. Hold on to me, my little one. It’s all right now. I have you. I am not angry with you.” At her words Jade stopped fighting and sagged against her.  
“I’m sorry. I don’t ever want to do it again.” He turned himself and cried again into Delenn’s dress. This time he cried himself into sleep while his touchstone to safety rocked and soothed him and kissed his cheek to reassure him that he was not in trouble.

********************************B5***************************

Jade was sleeping in Delenn’s arms when both Davids came in the house to check on Jade, and Delenn and Lyta were speaking in low tones.  
“Good lord, what were they thinking? If he’s done that then they didn’t create his abilities, like I thought, but they may have encouraged some and tried to prevent others. I’ve seen programs like that, not quite so severe though. They take a young child and suppress some of their abilities like blocking a scan to bolster others like invading someone’s mind. Remember how scared he was to block Bester, but he would reach out to touch anyone’s mind, yet he never took anything from the minds he touched. He never forced his way in, it was more like a surface scan. It didn’t feel like a violation to either Susan or myself. Maybe they were trying to train him as an unwitting spy.”  
She thought to herself for a moment. “He touched mine and Ivanova’s minds and yours. I wonder if they didn’t make a mistake forcing him to hurt the subject he remembers. I’d bet that’s what happened. By forcing him the way they did, and his obvious trauma over harming the subject they effectively killed the instinct they were trying to create. That is why he was with Bishop. The corps had no use for him after he began to fear harming others. They needed him to be ruthless and he couldn’t be.” Lyta had just finished when they entered the room.  
The elder of the two noticed Jade in Delenn’s arms. “How is he, Delenn?”  
“He is fine, David. He has had a horrible day, but he will be okay. I will see to that.” She kissed the soft curls under her chin. Her other son came to sit beside her.  
“Montoya got things out there cleaned up, he’s going to deal with Kay’Lynn. She’s in the medical center now, sedated and under guard. Even Jade’s mess has been dealt with.” He settled back beside her and listened to the three adults speak softly of Lyta’s suspicions. He didn’t want to think that Jade had been made to do those things.  
Eventually they quieted and Delenn took a little time to contemplate Kay’Lynn’s predicament. “I feel bad for Kay’Lynn. From what she said out there she’s been through quite a lot of pain and suffering. I wish she hadn’t shot the psi-cop. She will have to answer for it.” A sudden thought occurred to Delenn. “Matthew is no longer here?” She hadn’t seen him upon her return and then with the excitement she’d forgotten to inquire about him.  
“He left a little while before you got here. He had to get back to class or something.” She nodded in understanding and put an arm around her caring older son. 

********************************B5***************************

Jade roused an hour later just in time to eat his dinner. Delenn didn’t let go of him the entire time and left Mayan and Lyta to help Nancy clean up the dishes and left over food while she went to give him a bath and get him ready for bed. She left him with Lyta while she got herself a shower and then took him back and sat in the rocker in the den to read softly to him. He sniffled every once in a while and she kissed his temple every time he did. He held on to her not even pretending to be interested in the book.  
“Would you like me to take you to bed, Jade?” She asked as he shifted around to get closer to her. He shook his head. “I’ll stay with you, my little one. Are you sure you don’t want to go to bed a bit early?” He nodded against her. “All right then. We shall stay and I’ll continue to read to you.” He nodded again and tightened his arms around her torso. She continued the story that David had provided. It was about a small mouse that did big things. She didn’t remember having seen it anywhere before. The cover read Stuart Little and so far it was interesting but bizarre.  
David, the younger, had helped with dishes as much as he could and finally come to listen to his mother read. The book, being odd to her way of thinking, gave her normally fluid speech a halting jerk as she pondered things in the story. David finally could take no more and asked his grandfather to read it. The elder David took the book graciously from Delenn’s hands, sat on the near end of the sofa and began reading. His voice was enthusiastic and David was held entranced. Jade even looked up to his grandfather for a moment before snuggling against his mother again. Delenn put both arms around her little boy and continued to rock him, becoming interested in the story herself. David’s voice and enthusiasm for the story clarifying some of the mysteries she had been encountering while trying to read it herself.

********************************B5***************************

Mayan walked into the den, having bid the red-haired telepath farewell once the dishes were done, to find Delenn and her nephew enchanted by the elder Sheridan reading from an old Earth novel, while the smallest Sheridan, in his mother’s arms, was fast asleep. She giggled softly at the picture. “You always did like it better if someone else was reading,” she said to Delenn as she walked further into the room to sit beside her nephew who had moved to the long couch, resting his head on the pillow which perched on his drawn up knees. He smiled at her as she sat.  
“True, especially when I couldn’t grasp the concept of the text.” Delenn sent back unashamedly. David hadn’t stopped his reading and the other David was still listening intently. He even shushed them softly. Delenn finally noticed that her smaller child had fallen asleep, and rose to take him to bed.  
She opened the door to the bedroom and lie Jade’s limp little form on the bed then unrolled the covers from beneath him, covering him with them once they were free. She kissed his brow and turned to use the facilities before joining him. She heard the restless stirring before she was halfway out the door. She returned to him and soothed the grimace away. “It’s all right, little one, I’ll be right back. I just need to ready myself for bed.” The small form relaxed again, and she left his side hurrying to finish her nightly ritual of getting ready for bed. By the time she got back Jade had curled into a small fetal ball. She noticed that he clutched his shirt over his stomach and wondered at it, the effects of the scar treatment should have worn off long ago. Then she realized that he’d probably caught one of the illnesses that David used to catch from time to time at Jade’s age.  
Delenn sighed when she saw him, hoping that she was wrong. She climbed in and pulled him to her side, straightening his legs as she did. He relaxed as he realized that she had returned and sidled closer to snuggle with his face in her stomach as she lay on her side facing him. He did not, however, let go of the shirt.


	18. Chapter 18

********************************B5***************************

 

John stood watching the approach of his scouts to the Drakh fleet. Most looked like cargo ships, but they could hold their own, and Susan was riding the Whitestar as escort. He held his breath, waiting to see if the Drakh would attack, which, of course, they did. “That’s it, people. Lets get out there and take ‘em down. Everyone jump to normal space and come out guns blazing.” All around the Star of Valen jump points opened and the fleet exited hyperspace.  
The small group they’d sent out was taking a heavy pounding but so far no one had been lost. “Form up with our ships, protect them,” John ordered. The fleet of Whitestars they’d scrounged launched at the Drakh while the larger ships helped their injured comrades. The Drakh, while clearly surprised, were not daunted in the least by the equal sized fleet coming at them. Laser blasts, coming in waves, filled space around the Whitestars as the guns recharged on some ships. Then there were the return fire blasts from their own ships. The picture painted would scare many for years to come. The red explosions of the Alliance ships and the off colored green of the Drakh made a sharp contrast to the soft colors of the laser blasts. Debris began to fill the area as the battle raged on. Parts of ships already destroyed took further blasts as they drifted through the area.  
Susan took her position at the head of the Whitestars and led them against the smaller ships, allowing the cruisers to ravage one another. Her squadron of Whitestars tore through the medium size ships like they weren’t there. John shouted orders until his voice was rough from too much use. Eventually the Drakh were reduced to debris and escape pods. As he looked around, John was taken back to the first major offensive he’d led against the shadows. The debris floating on screen was an eerie macabre dance of that battle. He found himself wishing that Delenn were there for him to hold onto as he’d done then.

********************************B5***************************

The casualty reports began pouring in and he coordinated the clean-up and rescue efforts. All partially destroyed ships were to be searched and the survivors were to be taken to Medical quarters on the remaining capitol ships. They were in the middle of the clean up when a dozen jump points formed around them. John shouted orders for those capable to get into position for another fight.  
He slumped in relief when a familiar face and deep female voice came over the link.   
“Alliance fleet, it looks like we’re too late to help with the fight but we can help with the clean-up,” Elizabeth Lochley stated as the Earth Force cruisers came abreast of John’s fleet.  
“It would be much appreciated. I see they finally let you come out to play.” John was exhausted. Lochley could tell that just by his voice but his face was pinched and there was a trickle of blood from a gash on his forehead running down his nose.   
“Yeah, finally. Sorry it took so long, but they’ve been a little scared, what with the Drakh’s actions last time, the president didn’t want to leave Earth open to attack.”  
“Understood, Admiral. I thought that might be what the hold up was all about. Truth be told, I don’t blame them either.” He turned away to accept a new report from an aide.  
“President Sheridan, you look beat. Go get some rest I’ll take over here. Let all your leaders have a rest. We were the late comers we’re all fresh and ready to work. Give me the clean-up orders and I’ll see that they are carried out.” John looked as though he were about to refuse. “I insist, John. You need medical attention yourself. Go get it and get some sleep. I’ll make sure you’re informed if we have a problem.”  
Sheridan rolled his eyes at her and looked around at the others in the tactical center. Seeing their looks he said, “I suppose you all think I should do what she says. Fine, fine.” He detailed the orders he’d given a little while ago and headed off to the medical quarters. Susan met him there, having brought Marcus aboard after the battle. He’d taken quite a beating from the hits they’d sustained.  
“How are you, Marcus, anything serious?” John asked as he was ushered to the bed beside Marcus.  
“No, you know me. I’ll be out of here in no time. You look a mess though.”  
“Thanks. I’m fine. Just this cut. Damn head wounds bleed like your about to die.” He winced as one of the Minbari doctors began cleaning him up.  
“I’m just glad it’s over.” Susan spoke up. “I’m ready to go home, and get back to being bored at my desk.”  
John chuckled at that statement. Susan would never be tied to a desk for too long. Her tendency to go stir crazy was well known to him. “I want to go get my family and go home too. I know how you feel, Susan. It’s time to be done.”  
“Why don’t you take Marcus and head to Earth then. Lochley and I can finish the clean-up.”  
“No we all go or we don’t go. I’m not shirking duty. I haven’t before and I won’t now. It won’t take long we’ll be back to Earth in a couple days.”

********************************B5***************************

Exactly four days later, Delenn woke at the sound of the door opening. Knowing that whoever it was coming in would pose no threat here, she didn’t pay much attention to the person standing in the door as she made sure her small son slept soundly and comfortably.  
“Hi, beautiful.” His voice made her gasp and look up at the door sharply. The light from the hall, the only light in the house, obscured his features, but she’d know that tall, broad frame anywhere.  
“I thought you were going to keep me updated on the events of the war.”  
“I did, until the battle ended, nothing exciting happened after the Drakh were defeated. I called the Whitestar when the battle started, but I got the captain instead of you. He said he’d let you know, but you had your hands full here. I heard about the attempted kidnapping. How is he?” John leaned against the door frame now watching them.  
She glanced briefly at their son again. “Aside from the bruise on his neck and a small virus he is fine. I took him back to Stephen this morning and had some tests run. I was assured that it is nothing more than a good old fashioned, ‘flu bug,’ is what he called it. He also assures that all children get them periodically. As if I’d never heard of this illness before. David had it quite a few times when he was a child.”  
John chuckled, amused that there were still sayings that threw her for a loop. “Adults get it too. If Jade’s been sleeping with you ever since he got sick, my guess is that you’ll be sick too.”  
“He did tell me that they were contagious. This I also knew, and again I don’t care. I wanted to be here for him. If I become ill, then I become ill. I’ll get over it.” Her voice was resigned and he began to suspect she had already caught Jade’s bug.  
“Well then I guess I’ll just have to take care of you when you do get it. I think I’ll find a place in Lizzie’s old room though.” He watched as her face contorted to mock anger. “I’m kidding, move over and I’ll join you both in a minute.” He said as he walked out and down the hall to check on David. When he was satisfied that his son slept soundly he returned, discarded his jacket and dress shirt, and crawled in behind Delenn, who’d made room for him and spooned around Jade.   
“You should stay in Elizabeth’s room with David. You could get it too.”  
“Then, we’ll be sick together.” He snuggled close to the both of them and kissed her cheek as she turned her head to look at him. “I missed you. It gets lonely in those damn slanted beds when you aren’t there to keep me from slipping.” She laughed at that.  
“Like father, like son. Jade had his first experience with one of those ‘damn beds’ as you call them. He kept sliding down it like a slide. I finally had to hold onto him so that I could get some rest. He refused to give up, which I suppose is a good sign.” The light in her eyes told John that she’d been very amused by the whole situation. “I missed you too.” She said more seriously. “Now get some sleep. Dawn is not far away.”  
“Yes ma’am.” They settled in and slept.

********************************B5***************************

Both were startled awake when Jade bolted from the bed once more. Delenn groaned loudly, “I hate it that he is so sick.”  
“Stay here. I’ll go be a good dad.” John cringed at the thought of what he knew his son was doing in the bathroom at that moment.  
“You’ll do him no good by pushing him out of the way. I’ll take care of him. Get some more sleep.” She pulled on a robe and walked out into the hall. She walked down to the bathroom and found silence instead of the retching she’d gotten used to. “Jade, are you all right?” There was a flush and then the tap ran for a few moments.  
The door opened and a bright faced Jade walked out. “I’m okay, mama. I feel better today.”  
“Then why run so fast to get here?”  
“Cause I had to go to the bathroom.” He looked at her like she should know these things.  
“I was worried you were ill again.” Shaking his head he took her hand and pulled her back in to the room they slept in. His eyes widened when he saw John sleeping there soundly.  
“When did Dad get here?”  
“Very early this morning, little one. We should allow him to sleep.”  
Jade looked up at her. She looked pale, even for her, and exhausted. “You go to bed too. I feel good, I’m going downstairs.”  
“No you are going to rest too. You have been ill and I’m not taking any chances that you’ll get it again so soon. Into bed, young man.” He groaned but complied. She got in beside him and hugged him close taking John’s hand when he reached out to her. Eventually, the rest of the house began to stir and the dawn turned to morning. John got up and left Delenn sleeping peacefully, while getting his restless son out so that his wife could catch up on her rest.

********************************B5***************************

“You look much better this morning, Jade.” Nancy commented when John entered the kitchen carrying the little guy.  
“I feel better and I’m really hungry.” He watched David eating his breakfast.  
“You’ll have to take it slow for a while yet, buddy, but some crackers and broth won’t hurt if you eat them very slowly.” John warned. David dropped his spoon and turned to face them.  
“When did you get here?”  
“Late last night, Davy.” David, the elder, answered. “I was up when he walked in. Looked exhausted to me so I sent him up to bed and said we’d talk later.”  
“I guess now’s as later as it gets huh?” John chuckled softly setting Jade on his feet. He promptly headed out of the kitchen for the den. “Where are you going?”  
“Rebo and Zooty.” Jade answered and David, the younger, mouthed the words simultaneously. He rolled his eyes and went back to his cereal.  
John listened to the small footsteps on the hard wood floor until the Vid came on and drowned them out. He noticed that there was a bounce to them that a child who was ill would not show. ‘He’s definitely better.’ “Has he been watching the show everyday again?”  
His son nodded and answered. “Yeah ever since that Psi-cop hurt him he’s spent most of his time on his back in there watching cartoons and Rebo and Zooty with mom, but then he’s been sick too.”  
Nancy brought over a cup of coffee for John as he took a seat at the table. “He seems better this morning. I just hope his mama doesn’t catch it.”  
“I never caught any of David’s human illnesses, but if I do I will survive.” A robed Delenn crossed the floor to give John a kiss good morning. She then greeted her son and peeked her head in to check on Jade. He was sitting in the corner of the couch as near the vid as he could get and giggling hysterically at the antics of the comedians on the screen. She smiled softly and left him to the show.  
“How did you sleep, beautiful?”  
“Better after you arrived than before.”  
“You guys, yuck.” David made a face at their mush.  
“Oh, hush, you won’t mind it when you find a beautiful lady like your mom.” His grandfather scolded lightly.  
“I’ve got studies. No time for a female.”  
“Please, Davy, I’ve seen you in town. Making a fuss to look good so the girls will notice you.”  
“Gramma, I do not. Well, not too much anyway. Okay, so I like to be noticed. I’m sixteen can you blame me.” The smirks he received rubbed a little raw and he sighed in exasperation. “I’m gonna go watch Rebo and Zooty with the rat.” He left them to their adult conversations.

********************************B5***************************

Susan was relieved when the debriefing was finally over. She had spoken of only what they’d asked about and David and Jade had been left out of it entirely. She was itching to go to the farm and see them before they left for Minbar. John had expressed that he wasn’t planning on staying around any longer than necessary. He wanted to go home and he was anxious to grant Jade’s wishes to be home as well. So, Susan grabbed Marcus and headed straight for a transport.   
They landed just as Mayan was lifting off to head to Minbar for her next performance. “Damn, we missed one already.”  
“Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll see her in a few weeks. Jade has a birthday coming up and I think going to Minbar would be better for all concerned than dragging him here. We’ll see her then.” He took her hand and led her to the ground and the group of friends they’d come to see. They walked up just in time to hear Jade ask his mother why David went to school and he didn’t.  
“Because I thought it would be easier on all of us if you were near by until you grew accustomed to being away from me for more than a few minutes at a time. You must admit that when we first returned to Minbar you clung to me like a gokling to its mother.” She chucked him under the chin earning a smile for her efforts.  
“But what about now, could I go to school like David?”  
“If you would like to try going to school, but you now have a decision to make. You can go to the ranger school like the human children of the rangers or you could follow Minbari tradition and go to temple to learn and discover the calling of your heart.”  
“If I go to Temple I’ll be away from you for a long time though. I don’t want to be away from you or dad, but it sounds interesting. I wanna go to a regular school like here though too. I think I better think about it for a while.”  
“I believe that may be a good idea, little one.”  
Susan caught him before he could run off. “Just where do you think you’re going without giving me a hug.”  
“Nowhere, now.” The little arms hugged her. “Thanks for taking care of Dad for me.”  
“It’s my job, Dushenka.” Then she noticed the bruise on his neck. “What the hell is that!?”  
“What?” He asked with his eyebrows drawn together. She lightly touched the bruise, but even so he flinched. “It’s a bruise, Susochke. The PsiCorps left it when she touched me. It’s still sore.”  
“I’m sorry, sweetling. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” She leaned down to get a better look at his neck. The bruise was an angry red/purple mix in the perfect shape of a hand.  
“It’s okay. You didn’t know.”  
“The PsiCorps tried for him.” She was looking pointedly at Delenn.  
“Yes. Almost a week ago now. Lyta was here to help though.” Delenn told them the story after they went to sit on the porch in the shade and afternoon breezes. John was interested, having only heard that the Corps had tried for Jade. He winced as she described the scream and then his vomiting.

********************************B5***************************

As they listened, Jade sneaked up the tree beside the porch where they were sitting. He looked over the lip of the roof at them and smiled listening to his mother finish her tale. The glint in his eyes was full of impishness. As soon as she finished speaking he yelled, “BOO!”   
His hold-mother smiled, having seen him lean down behind his mom and dad, both of whom jumped out of their skins. Jade giggled mercilessly at their obvious shock. “You little scamp, get down from there before you fall and hurt yourself.” Delenn was holding a hand over her heart as she had many months ago when John had startled her accidentally while watching her make breakfast for her sons. When he noticed this John began laughing outright. Delenn looked fit to be tied at his jubilance. “Like father, like son.” He got out between gasps for air. He watched realization dawn on her beautiful features and she laughed with him. “I think he’s just earned himself a new nickname for his trouble though. Scamp, heh, I like that.”  
“I’m not a scamp.” The boy spoken of lowered himself over the edge of the roof and slid down the ornately carved support stud to the banister that skirted the edge of the porch. He hopped off the banister and came over to sit between John and Delenn on the hanging porch swing. Susan watched him closely. He didn’t appear to have suffered any effects from the PsiCop’s attack on his mind.   
“You are a scamp scaring your mother like that.” He gave a guiltily mischievous grin and reached up to kiss his mother’s cheek.  
“I’m sorry, mama.”  
“That’s all right, it is good to see you playing and feeling better.” She caressed his cheek with the backs of her fingers for a moment. “Do you have everything packed and ready to be loaded when we go home tomorrow?”  
“I think I got most of it. Are we taking Baldor home with us?”  
“Of course we are, Jade.” John answered and Jade looked back to him. “We can’t leave him here for your gramma to care for. That’s your job, remember.”  
“Yeah I know that, Dad, but I was worried that I might have to leave him. I don’t want to.” He chittered a little after he finished speaking and the ferret in question swarmed down the tree Jade had climbed earlier. The slender creature slinked across the porch and climbed Jade’s pants. He smiled as his inhuman friend sniffed him to make sure he was unharmed and searched for a treat. Jade shook his head and gave up the last of the grapes he’d sneaked from the refrigeration unit. “That’s the last, Baldor, you’ve eaten all of the rest.” He explained as Baldor began sniffing for more. Two little black eyes looked up at Jade and then the elongated body slid back down his pants and Baldor went off in search of insects and smaller rodents to snack on.

********************************B5***************************

“John, whatever happened to the photo albums I gave you?” Susan asked later that evening as they sat with John’s parents in the large den relaxing after dinner and clearing off the table.  
“I’ve got them in my bags.” Delenn answered. “Why?”  
“Because she still hasn’t seen them yet.” John loosened his arm from her shoulders. “I’ll go get them and we can look at them again, and everyone else that wants to can see them too.” He stood and disappeared up the stairs. When he returned he carried the four albums; he set the first one in Susan’s hands the second in his mother’s and kept the others in his own. Jade had climbed into Delenn’s lap in anticipation of seeing the pictures of himself and his parents. Susan began looking through the first one, with Marcus over her shoulder, not really paying any attention to John, Delenn or Jade.  
“Jade, I know you want to look at these, but I want to tell you what you are going to be seeing in them, so that you can be prepared to see them. Understand?” Jade nodded. “Mom and I looked through these and we noticed that Bishop was in quite a few of the photos.”  
Jade looked confused, “But why would he be in my pictures?”  
“It looks to me like your parents were friends with him. If you don’t want to look at them it’s okay.” John was half hoping that Jade didn’t want to look at them. He was afraid of the reaction his son would have if he were to see the man that had harmed him in a friendly hug with his mother or playing a game of cards with his father or seeing that man holding him as an infant like a proud uncle or hold-father. He waited patiently for Jade to decide.  
“I wanna see. I wanna see them all. I remember the people but not stuff that happened. I wanna see what they did, and I wanna see what they really looked like because what if I remember them wrong?”  
John understood that reasoning and would not refuse. “Okay. We’ll start with these then. I’ve seen him in all of them but most prominently in these two. Let’s get them out of the way first.” Jade nodded emphatically, apparently as eager to get Bishop out of the way as John, and leaned back against his mother.  
Both John and Delenn had feared the worst, but Jade hadn’t become upset or shown any signs of fear as they looked through the pictures. He laughed at some of them and stared intently at others. One picture held his attention for two full minutes before Delenn had turned the page. It was a picture of Bishop with him sitting on his shoulder. Bishop was smiling at the camera and holding him up with one hand. The other arm was around a woman with long blond hair that Jade only vaguely remembered. He looked about a year old in the picture. He’d been studying the woman intently when the page turned. “Wait, Mama, I wanna look at that page some more.” Delenn turned back and again the picture caught his eye. Bishop in the picture looked like the Bishop Jade had seen in his meditation.  
The woman he still couldn’t place though. “I wonder who she is. I don’t remember her.”  
John looked, “Well, let’s take a look and see if the back has any writing on it.” He slid the photo from its protective cover. The scrawled writing on the back read, Alana, the Scoundrel and the munchkin at Al’s birthday bash on June the 3rd 2272. Aren’t they cute? “That name is familiar, Alana, but I don’t know from where.”  
Susan looked up then, “I got the albums from an Alana. She said she knew Jade’s former parents, and she was married to Bishop for a short time.”  
“Didn’t you say something about her wanting to see Jade again?”  
“Yeah, I told her that I didn’t have the authority to allow that though. I wanted to talk to you though. It might be good for her and Jade to see and talk to each other. They both lost people they loved.”  
“I think it is fitting for Jade to decide. This is something that we can not force him to do or not do.” Delenn said watching her son. He was gnawing softly on his lip in thought as he stared at the picture again.  
“I don’t know. I want to, but I’m afraid to also. Mama, I don’t know what to do.”  
“I can not make this decision for you, my little one, you must be comfortable with your actions.”  
“If I did want to talk to her, how could I? I don’t know where she lives or anything.”  
“She left me with instructions on how to reach her.” Susan watched him consciously.  
“Can we just call her? I don’t think I wanna go to her house or have her come to my home, but I wanna talk to her. I wanna know if Bishop was ever good, like he looks in the picture. Like he was in my meditation that afternoon, Dad. I noticed that he wasn’t scary or anything.”  
John had been curious about Jade’s meditation, but as he’d told Delenn he hadn’t wanted to pressure Jade into speaking of it. He now understood that he should have gotten him to speak of it. He’d have noticed the inconsistency with Jade’s reactions to the man who’d harmed him. ‘Granted, it would have been a puzzle at the time,’ he thought amused, ‘but at least I’d have known that there was more to it.’  
“That is a good suggestion, little one. Susan, we can call from the Whitestar.” Delenn held Jade in her arms as she stood beckoning Susan to follow. John tagged along while Marcus decided to continue looking through the photos. Jade needed as few people as possible with him for this. Marcus knew it was going to be emotionally draining for him and in front of an audience it would be worse.

********************************B5***************************

Jade was nervous, he would be the first to admit that this was an emotion he was becoming very familiar with. He found himself, as always, looking to his mother for reassurance as Susan called up the woman’s home.  
“Yes, hello?” The blond woman appeared on the screen as she answered.  
“Miss Dara, hello. I’m sure you remember me.”  
“Of course, General.” The accent was still as thickly Russian as it had been. “How may I help you?”  
“Actually, I’m not the one that wants to speak with you. I just happened to know how to contact you.” She looked over at Jade and he nodded stepping beside Susan and pulling Delenn with him. Susan melted into the background.  
“Jade, munchkin, is that you? Look at you. You have grown so much.”  
“Hi, um, I guess you know me. I don’t remember you though. You were in a picture with me.”  
“Yes, many pictures. I knew your mama and your papa.”  
“Did you know Bishop too? Susochke said that you were married to him.” His hand was tight around Delenn’s fingers and she gently disengaged them putting her arm around his shoulders. He replaced her fingers with the silks of her dress.  
“Yes, I was married to him for a while long ago. Do you have questions about him?” She smiled at his tentative nod.  
“If you don’t mind. I only have one.”  
“I don’t mind, but I would ask for a moment to get my daughter settled. I am in the middle of her dinner.”  
“It’s okay, I... I’m sorry we called at a bad time.”  
“Oh, not a bad time, just an interesting one. It is messy at the moment.” She didn’t leave the field of view as she spoke and went back to what she’d been doing. After a few moments she lifted a small food covered girl into view of the com. Wiping the small face she set the child on the floor out of view and shooed her on her way. “Go on and play, little Zara.”  
Behind her, Delenn heard a muffled gasp from Susan and turned to see her friend watching Jade. Her husband looked ill at ease, but shook his head at her inquiring look so she turned back to the exchange between her son and this woman from his past.  
Susan watched for recognition to form on Jade’s face but none did. Delenn hadn’t been present during the debriefing on Jade’s family and didn’t recognize the name, but she knew John had when she looked over and saw him pale. The little girl looked about three, if not, then close to it, and the resemblance to Jade was there although not prominent.  
“What is your question?”  
“I wanted to know if Bishop was always mean to me. Did he hit me when I was very small? Was he good friends with my family? Why did he hurt us? Do you know?”   
“I think that was more than one question, but I can answer them for you. He was not always a bad person, just toward the end. He never hit you to my knowledge, but I wasn’t always there. He and your father were less of friends than your mother and I, but they were close. I don’t know exactly what the cause of his turning against your family, but I know he was quite mad the last time I spoke to him. Not like himself at all. It was shortly after your parent’s deaths. Was he mean to you while you were with him?” Jade could only nod his head and hold more tightly to his mother. “I am sorry that he was mean to you, and that he hurt you. I can see that he did, by the look in your eyes child. If I’d known I would have found you and taken you from him.”  
“You didn’t know.” He was fighting his memories of Bishop and searching for memories of this woman before him. Things were getting horribly painful and confusing.  
Seeing this, Ms. Dara changed the subject. “Would you introduce me to the lady you hold so tightly?”  
“This is my mama.” He looked up at her. “Her name is Delenn, my dad’s here too.”  
“It is good to meet you, ma’am. Are you happy with them, Jade?”  
“Very happy. I can’t wait to get home. I’m gonna be starting real school instead of just my tutor.” He looked up at Delenn and smiled as he realized he hadn’t informed her of his decision yet.  
“That is good. I’m glad to know you are in a happy home. Do you remember me yet?”  
“I’m not sure. I don’t think so. Sorry.”  
“It’s all right. I wasn’t around much after Bishop and I divorced.” There was a crash in the background of Dara’s side of the line. “Zara, goodness, the things you do for attention. I regret that I must go soon. My daughter needs a bath and I must get ready for work.”  
“We understand, don’t we Jade?” Delenn looked at him. He nodded.  
“It’s nice to know that someone remembers my old family. I was pretty small and I’m not sure I remember things right or not. I think it’s good that they won’t be forgotten. Oh, thank you for the pictures that you gave me. I’ll take good care of them.”  
“You are most welcome, munchkin. I am glad that you want them remembered. I’m also glad that you contacted me. I now know you are safe and well taken care of. I no longer need to worry.”  
“Nope, I’m safe and I love my new family. I don’t ever want to leave them.”   
“Good, I will bid you farewell then.”  
“Bye.” The screen went blank and Jade turned and hugged Delenn as he cried. “He wasn’t always mean to me. Mama, did you hear her, he didn’t always hate me.”  
“No one could always hate you, little one. No one could ever hate you.” She knew that he was confused and relieved. Bishop had been the only adult prominent in his life and Jade would have looked to him for approval. He’d never gotten it, but that didn’t mean he ever stopped seeking it, and his seeking approval from someone he consciously felt shouldn’t matter had just been vindicated by the mysterious woman, and Jade was working through the opposing feelings of relief that he hadn’t been despised his entire life and disgust that he cared what Bishop had thought.  
“Come on, let’s go finish looking at those pictures of you.” He nodded and she held him tighter as she tucked him beside her and began walking out. “Are you two going to join us?”  
John answered. “We’ll be there in a minute.” Delenn nodded and they walked out of the room and returned to the house.  
Ivanova waited for them to be well out of earshot before speaking. “John, Jade’s sister’s name was--”  
“Zara, I remember. That little girl was about the same age too. I wonder why Ms. Dara didn’t say anything.” He pondered aloud.  
“She looked just enough like Jade. He remembers her dying though.”  
“She probably wasn’t there at all and his mind is filling her death in with a false memory.”  
“I’d think that Ms. Dara was afraid of losing her daughter. She is very attached to that child, did you see the way she looked when that crash sounded. Some people, who are extremely old fashioned, still see it as wrong to split up a family. She may be worried that since you have Jade you would want his sister too.”  
“I see your reasoning, just like Delenn was petrified that this woman would have some claim on Jade. It would tear both of them apart to lose each other now. It’d tear me apart too.” He shook his head and sighed loudly. “I suppose we shouldn’t worry about it. If we tell Jade I don’t know that he’d react well to the news that his sister is living. He thinks she’s dead, I daresay that he said goodbye to her at the same time that he said goodbye to his former parents. I don’t see where we have a right to upset that. They wouldn’t be together. He’s Delenn’s and my son now, and that little girl hasn’t known anyone but Ms. Dara. It wouldn’t be anything but painful for both of them.”  
“I guess that’s that then.”  
John nodded. “I don’t mean to sound horrible, but I’m not giving him up.”  
“I don’t think it’s horrible John. I wouldn’t give him up either. We all love him and don’t want to lose him. Let’s just forget about it unless Dara brings it up.” John nodded.  
“Let’s get back to the house. You still haven’t looked through all of the albums.” Susan took his arm and they walked back to the house.

 

********************************B5***************************

John and Susan walked up to the group still going through the photo albums and joined them once more. Before long Susan had a large stack of photos she wanted to copy, and Jade was sitting between his mom and dad fighting exhaustion.   
“Mom, I think Jade is ready for bed.” David said looking up at her from his spot on the floor near her. He nodded in his brother’s direction and grinned.  
Delenn looked down to her small son. His brow was lifted in an attempt to keep his eyelids from closing, it was succeeding only slightly better than his attempt to uncross his tired eyes. Even as she watched his small form sagged against her husband’s larger one. “Come on, little one, time for bed.”  
“I’m not tired, mom,” he protested despite the obvious signs and the fatigue in his voice, “really.”   
“Of course, you are not, but it’s still time for bed.” She said with amusement coloring her tone.  
“No, I’m awake, I don’t wanna sleep yet.”  
“I’ll tell you what, if you can stand up and walk to Susan, without help and without stumbling, I’ll let you stay up a little while longer.”  
“Okay.” He stood with thinly disguised help from John, and proceeded to not quite stumble toward the last place he’d seen Susan. However, Susan was no longer seated next to Marcus on the couch, but handing her stack of photos to a ranger, standing in the doorway, to get the copies made. Delenn chuckled at his obvious confusion and threatened John when he tried to help the poor boy.  
“Don’t you dare help him John Sheridan or you can sleep out here with him.” John pretended to zip and button his mouth closed, and Delenn couldn’t resist leaning down to give him a quick kiss.  
Jade had given up on his eyes and reached out with his mind to find Susan. She still stood talking to the ranger giving specifics as to the sizes she wanted the photos. He turned himself and shambled sleepily over wrapping his arms around her hips as he reached her. “All right, scamp, for a little while longer.” He almost smiled in triumph, but was just too tired. So, he leaned against Susan’s leg while she finished up her conversation.  
He was grateful a few minutes later when she absently lifted him off the floor. He let his head rest on her shoulder and dozed contentedly. Delenn shook her head in exasperation as she watched him drift off. Her son was as stubborn as she and her husband and she could not deny it. Susan returned and sat shifting her burden to a more comfortable position. “I see he wasn’t tired.” she commented, bemused with trying to balance Jade and an album she hadn’t finished looking through.  
Delenn offered to free her of the boy. “That’s okay Delenn, I’m fine with him. Just have to get situated. You two go spend some time together with nothing to worry about.” Delenn almost protested, but John knew a good thing when he saw it and pulled her from the room before she said anything further. Susan shook her head and rocked Jade as he stirred restlessly in her arms. He settled again and she went back to the photos comparing the tiny baby with the six year old in her lap in wonder.

********************************B5***************************

“This feels wonderful.” She whispered in his ear trying not to interrupt the placid night sounds as they stood beside the lake looking up at the clear sky.   
“What does?” John tightened his grip on her waist pulling her fully against himself. He distracted her for a moment by nuzzling her neck and kissing the base of her crest letting his tongue slip out ever so slightly to taste her and feel it’s smooth velvet texture, not really trying to be seductive. At least not overtly so, and he felt her shiver as the cool night air caressed the spot as it dried.  
“Peace. Not worrying that we will soon be engaged in a battle other than in the council chambers. Knowing that our sons are just over that hill in the house safe and sound and that we are together.” She hadn’t protested his actions nor until now had she encouraged them, content to allow his exploration and relish it. As she finished speaking however she disengaged his grip on her long enough to turn in and face him allowing her head to fall forward onto his chest as her arms encircled his neck. She began to play with his hair there knowing that before long he’d kiss her in that way and things would truly be right with the universe. Then he did, and the night melted away. No longer did either notice the breeze or the sounds of the water lapping against the pier supports or the splash as a fish leapt from the water or the sound of the moon kissing the earth with her soft rays.

********************************B5***************************

Susan smiled at her friends out on the end of the pier so lost in each other that they didn’t acknowledge the world around them. She turned to give them their privacy as she retreated to the Whitestar where she and Marcus were going to bunk for the night. She’d already settled Jade on the couch that John and Delenn had vacated, and the rest of the house was winding down for the night as well. She had replaced the original photos in the albums as they’d been returned to her, and now had in her possession copies of her favorites of the photos. Most of the photos were for albums of her own, but a few she’d had blown up to put on the wall with Jade’s hospital photo and the picture that she and Marcus had taken with him as well as the photo of John and Delenn’s family. She smiled in anticipation of adding the new treasures to the wall.  
Marcus was waiting for her when she reached their suite, and she climbed into bed next to him settling herself until her eyes drifted closed of their own accord.

********************************B5***************************

Three days and ten hours later Jade, finally, stepped off the Whitestar’s ramp onto the landing pad in Tuzanor and shivered at the familiar chill breeze with a glowing smile on his face. Minutes later he was home racing David up the stairs to the den, Jade grumbled good naturedly at his loss, and then carried his bag and the traveling case that housed Baldor into his room to admire the alterations his father had carried out. Baldor’s new cage would arrive in the next couple days and then the changes would be finished for a while. He let Baldor out to explore, and started to unpack his things. He took the four albums into the den and placed them with the other family albums on the bookshelf.  
He returned and finished unpacking before joining his father, mother and brother for an early dinner. They’d only been home for a short while but the routine was firmly in place and Jade, for one, was intensely relieved that things were back to normal.

********************************B5***************************

Montoya watched as Kay’lynn sidestepped the other trainee’s blow. She’d been at this for just over a week now. The skin of her arm had finally been declared healed and she’d taken to her training with a vengeance. He had been helping her with her studies, after his days in the center teaching the new under-class trainees. David Sheridan was doing well with his hand to hand, and Montoya was proud of him, it wasn’t every class that held the son of Entil’zha.  
Durhan called the end of class and Kay’lynn walked over after gathering her gear.  
“Hey, been waiting long?”  
“Not really, I just finished my own class. Want to get some dinner?”  
“I can’t right now. I asked Turval if he’d help me with my meditation. He said that this afternoon was all he had free, so I’ll be late tonight.”  
“Again.”  
“Hey, no one said that living with a trainee would be a joy ride.”  
“I know. I just miss having you around.”  
“Sorry, babe, the price of redemption is high these days, and I want to do a good job. I want to be the ranger that Lennier didn’t get to.” Montoya smiled. She hadn’t even flinched this time. She usually steered clear of any conversation involving Lennier. His smile widened when she placed a kiss on his cheek and headed off to her meeting. “See you at home.” She had more spring to her step as she walked off. It amazed him that she could keep up with the other trainees that were half her age, but she did and generally she ran circles around them in class.

 

********************************B5***************************

Two months after returning home, Jade and David, instead of going home after school to see their dad, walked into Shal Mayan’s extensive library. He’d been given the tour of the house already a few weeks ago, but Jade still was awestruck by the sheer size of the room. It was by far the largest in the house. In fact the house was built around the library. David had been right about the amount of books and scrolls and other media. At first Jade thought it odd that Mayan would have audio crystals and even vids when she was a writer of Ti’Lar.  
“Poetry comes in many shapes and forms of media. This painting,” Mayan indicated a beautifully rendered canvas of the Ice fields of Io and Minbar combined, “is one of the most poetic inspirations I have seen. I composed quite a few works after first seeing this painting. The compositions of Earth are like Ti’Lar without words. The vids of Centauri Prime before the destruction are the most profoundly depressive things I will wish to see, and they prompt many of the somber works of many composers of Ti’Lar.”  
“Wow.” Was all that Jade could say as he took in the disheveled appearance of the cavernous room.  
Mayan smiled at his reaction and then began appointing tasks for the two Sheridan sons to accomplish.   
Many weeks later even before the task was finished Jade realized that he no longer looked upon the labors as a punishment. He genuinely enjoyed every moment he spent in the library with David and Mayan, and he learned more from her about her art that summer than he was ever taught in school or during his brief stay in temple.  
When he spoke to his mother of this many years later her face held a secretive smile as she looked toward the rising sun.


	19. Chapter 19

********************************B5***************************

 

Epilogue

The soft monitor beeped in ever dwindling constancy. Jade had tried to redo what he’d done before when he’d revived Marcus, but to his chagrin and disappointment and Susan’s grief it hadn’t worked a second time. He was distraught over his failure, but his heart was breaking over the fact that his friend and hold-father was fading out of life. Jade stood beside the door of the private Medlab room and watched as Susan kissed her husband once more before Stephen transferred him to the cryonics chamber. Marcus had protested cryonics, at first, but Susan had been inconsolable until he’d acquiesced. They’d put it off as long as they could and now all that was left was to say goodbye and hope that a cure for the device’s draining effects could be found.  
Marcus’s breathing was labored as his essence ebbed and he kissed Susan a last time before asking for Jade. The seven year old didn’t want to talk to him but had no choice as Susan beckoned and then took his hand and pulled him to the bedside.  
“Give-” he took a breath “-us a minute, love.” She nodded and stepped outside the door and no further. Jade felt her just far enough out to allow the door to close.  
“I’m sorry, Marcus. I tried again and again but it doesn’t help. Lyta says that its probably something to do with my training. That when I did it last time I didn’t know it might be immoral so I didn’t have anything holding me back, but now I have learned that some things I can do with my mind are not the right thing so I unconsciously prevent myself from doing it. I don’t see why helping you would be wrong though. I don’t want you to leave and I don’t want Susochke to be sad since you’re not gonna be here.” He was putting up a brave front holding the tears back, but only just succeeding.  
“It’s,” another breath, “quite all right.” He took another breath. “I’m tired Jade, Susan will have you to care for her.” His voice was soft and he had to pause again for breath. “Take good care of her for me, and everyone else.” Jade nodded as Marcus breathed for a moment. “She will be okay as long as you remind her she’s not alone.”  
“I will, Marcus, I’ll take good care of her and I’ll make sure she knows that we all love her, ‘cause we do.” He reached out a small unsteady hand to grip Marcus’s much larger, and despite the weakening state of his life presence, decidedly stronger hand. “I’m so sorry, Marcus. I want to help and I don’t know how anymore.”  
“It’s going to be okay, Jade, you aren’t to blame and I,” short pause for breath, “know how hard you’ve tried. I appreciate it more than you know, but I don’t want you to feel bad.” He stopped and mustered the strength to raise his head and look at his hold-son. “Do you understand? Do not feel guilty for this. You gave both Susan and I a very precious gift. We got to love one another for a time openly. Thank you.” With that Jade lost the battle to remain calm and cried. He cried because a dying man was thanking him for unintentionally making him live through his death all over again, that he was losing a man he admired as a friend and looked up to as a role model, and he cried because he couldn’t be strong for that man now. Marcus squeezed his hand, not able to do more for the child he’d come to love as his own.  
“You’re welcome. Thank you for being my hold-father.”  
“That was purely my pleasure, Jade.” He smiled at the boy who returned the gesture with tears still streaming down his face.  
“You want me to get Susochke now?” Marcus nodded slightly and Jade let go of his hand to call Susan back into the room.

********************************B5***************************

Jade and his mother stood with the rest of the family as John stood with his mother on the end of the pier and sprinkled his father’s ashes out over the water. He’d been confused by the explanation his dad had given for this, his grandfather’s last request. David, the elder, had wanted to be a part of his land and had thought that cremation and rest in the lake were the best ways to do that. He watched his dad and his Gramma walk back down to the family and David and Jade met their dad with a hug to give and receive comfort. Delenn also came forward to embrace him, and he held the three of them close for a moment. Nancy moved to stand with them and a prayer was said. After the pastor finished the ceremony, the gathered family and friends moved back to the house to fondly remember the man they had laid to rest today. Jade couldn’t help but wonder if this is how it would be when he said goodbye to his father.

********************************B5***************************

Susan Ivanova felt her Dushenka stiffen as the shuttle’s ramp touched down and she knew that it wasn’t from the chill wind that seemed to be a constant fixture of Tuzanor. She knew instinctively that it was from the absence of the man who’d summoned them in the group obviously waiting for their arrival. As soon as he could, he let go of her and ran to Delenn. Susan could feel the grief from her dear friends who stood nearby. Both Garibaldi and Emperor Vir Cotto stood off giving mother and son room.  
“Mama, where--” Her nine year old son had grown much over the last three years, but when possessed by fear he predictably reverted to that scared little boy she’d cradled to her on that evening three years ago.  
“He’s at the house with Stephen, my little one. It is not quite time for him to leave us.” As expected his arms flew around her and his relief was palpable. “Come on, let’s go in out of the cold.” He nodded but made no move to let go. “Get your bags, little one.” He let go long enough to grab his suitcase and throw his pack over his back and they headed back to the house across the bridge ways.

********************************B5***************************

Jade stood beside the door to his parent’s medcenter and waited for his mom and dad to come out. Doctor Franklin had just left to join the rest of the guests. “Jade, come in here for a minute,” his father said as they appeared with their arms around each other. He started to follow his dad when his mother ran a finger down his nose.  
“I’ll see you down stairs in a moment.” He nodded and entered the room watching his dad.  
“Come here, pal.” John held his arms open to his young son and fought back the tears as Jade rushed forward to hug him desperately. “It’s okay, Jade, eventually it’ll be okay.”  
“No it won’t, you’re leaving Dad. Mom’s gonna be sad and David is gonna be sad and I’m gonna be sad, and it’s not fair Dad. It’s not fair.” His voice was thick, strained with holding back his tears, and John hurt to hear it.  
“No, it is definitely not fair to you at all, but I agreed to this price so that the universe would be safer for you and your mom and David. I will be here, you know. I’ll be in your heart and in Mom’s heart and in the hearts of everyone I love.”  
“But you won’t be here.” His voice had turned into a croak with his pain and John couldn’t take anymore.  
“Let it out, Jade. Don’t ever hold in the hurt that just makes it worse.” Jade did as told and John cried with him. “I asked mom to be strong until I’m gone that I want this to be a happy time, but Jade, I don’t want you to hold it in, if you need it you let me know and I’ll hold you until I can’t any longer.”   
“Okay, Dad. Dad, can I stay with you? In your lap, I mean, at dinner and stuff. Can I sit with you?” His whispered question was a bit fearful. John knew it was because he was afraid he’d be refused.  
“Of course, Pal. I’d like that.” Jade relaxed a little in relief. “Let’s go join everyone.” They stood and exited the room.

********************************B5***************************

John sat beside the bed that held his son and one of the best friends he’d ever known. He reached out a tender hand and stoked the dark hair out of Jade’s face. With the way she curled around him, most of the hair was Susan’s. “It’s time I headed out, son.” He spoke softly as his index finger traced a line from the dark hairline down his nose to his softly pointed chin. “Take good care of your mom for me. I know you will. I love you, son. I’m sorry I can’t stay.” Susan began to stir.  
“What? John?” Came the drowsy inquiry.  
“Yeah, Susan, it’s okay.”  
“What time is it?”  
“Before dawn, go back to sleep.”  
“What are you doing in here?”  
He sighed defeat. He’d hoped to avoid this. “I’m saying goodbye, Susan. It’s time I got going, and I wanted to see him one last time. To see both of you.”  
“What do you mean, going?” Her voice was strained with quiet knowledge.  
“I’m leaving, Susan, and I won’t be coming back. I just wanted to see you both one last time so I could remember you peacefully. Take care of them, Susan, even if you don’t take the job. Take care of my family.”  
“I will, John.”  
“I’ve always thought of you as a sister, you know?”  
“I know, and if you didn’t see that I thought the same of you you’re more blind than I gave you credit for.”  
“You thought of me as a sister. Thank you so much.” He chuckled trying to lighten the moment. She smiled demurely back at him.  
“You know what I mean. Safe journey, John. I was once told of an ancient Egyptian blessing. My thoughts go with you.”  
“Thank you, Susan. I love you, little sister.” He reached across his son’s inert form in the dim light and wiped away the tear that escaped as the words diffused in the still air.  
“Me too, John.” She closed her eyes trying with all her might to hold back the grief.  
John chose to leave her be, knowing that if he tried to comfort her it would only make the strain harder, so he turned back to his son, and reflected all the times he’d sat in this room in this position and spoken to the slumbering child before him over the last three years. He’d revealed his fears of losing his father to this child unaware, his regrets at having to leave so soon. He’d beamed with pride as he spoke of the accomplishments of his elder son after the ceremony he’d conducted introducing the new Anla’Shok candidates, and of his worry over his surrogate little sister’s loss of her true love, but this time he knew there was an unwitting observer. He’d hoped that she wouldn’t wake, but was now glad that she had. He’d regret having not told her how he’d thought of her all these years.  
“Well, son, it looks like this will be my last late night visit to let you know how I feel about you and our family and everything in general. I have to go soon, but I need you to take care of your mom for me. Check on your aunt and your Gramma from time to time. I know you will do a good job taking care of them. Take care of Susan too, and yourself. Do great things, son, but don’t forget to just be happy. I know that its going to be hard for a while, but my loss will pass and your sadness will too. When that happens I want you to teach these Minbari the fine art of Baseball. I love you, son. Please be happy, do it for me. I don’t think I’d have the strength to do what I must if I didn’t know you and your mom were going to be here for each other.”   
John took a breath and rested his fingertip on Jade’s forehead, “I will be waiting for you in the place where no shadows fall,” as he said goodbye, his finger gently slid down Jade’s face from his forehead, down his slim nose, to his softly pointed chin for the last time. He then leaned over and kissed his son’s head, and on impulse kissed Susan’s as well then he turned without another word and left the room, adjusting the uniform as he rounded the door jam into the hall. It was time to face the last goodbye.

********************************B5***************************

John entered Hyperspace on his way to Babylon 5. As soon as he was clear he let the automatic systems kick in as he called up Whitestar 94 in Drazi space. The sleek ship’s communication’s technician connected him, somewhat nervously to the captain’s office.  
“Yes, Entil’zha. Is there anything I can do for you?” The gruff middle-aged captain came on screen.  
“Yes, I need to speak with ranger trainee Sheridan. I’ll need absolute privacy for this, Captain.”  
“Yes sir, I’ll have him here shortly.” John nodded and sat back to wait. John heard him long before the flustered countenance appeared before the screen. “Take all the time you need Entil’zha. We can handle things without David for a while.”  
“Thank you, Captain.” He acknowledged and then the captain disappeared.  
“What’s going on, Dad? Is mother or Jade ill?” John listened to the deepened voice of his newly turned nineteen year old son. ‘He really is becoming a great man.’  
John cleared his throat. “No, son, your mother and brother are,” he paused for a moment knowing that this was most likely by now a lie, “they’re just fine.”  
“They are.” David’s highly intelligent eyes took in the tired appearance of his father. “Then what is it?”  
“I --” Now was the moment of truth. He had made the call still undecided, he’d waited for David to appear still undecided, and now his son was before him asking for a reason. John was still undecided. He wanted to tell his son they’d never speak again in this life, but he also wanted to see his son free of the grief of knowledge. He listened for a moment to the almost silent engines of his Whitestar. “--just wanted to see you and speak to you for a while uninterrupted,” and time began to turn normally again. “Your last trip home I didn’t get to see you much with all the craziness of Christmas and all that.”  
“Yeah, I was as busy as you and Mom. Anisa really enjoyed herself. I’m glad you and Jade talked me into inviting her.”  
“She is a very interesting young lady, son. I hope you’re enjoying yourselves, but don’t do anything stupid.”  
David smiled at his father’s worries. “Of course, Dad. I was raised a gentleman.” His face fell a bit. “After we left did mother say anything about Nisa at all?” John heard the worry.  
“Don’t worry Davy. She liked Anisa. I think that she was just upset that her baby has a serious relationship. She hates that her boys are growing up.”  
“I guess all moms are like that though huh?”  
“They are. I think your mom is worse than most though. She’s going to try to keep Jade under ten for as long as she can get away with it.”  
“That won’t be much longer either.”  
“No,” John paused for a moment of contemplation. “No, it most certainly will not. He’s growing up like you did, much too fast.”  
“I’m glad she likes Nisa. I like her a lot, Dad. She’s just, I don’t know how to describe her. She’s great, beautiful, kind, funny, understanding, tough, fiery--” as David went on speaking of his girlfriend, John found himself fighting tears. His son was in love, probably for the first time in his life, and John was going to miss it. He decided that he better wrap up the conversation.   
“I knew that she was special, son. Look, I’ve got to go, but I wanted to talk to you and I want you to know that I love you, son. With all that I am, I love you, your mother and your little brother, and I’ll see you when I see you.” He decided to use the old adage that his father had used with him just before the shadow war. He watched David’s face for a reaction to what he’d said, hoping the message had gotten through but at the same time praying that it hadn’t. David’s face didn’t change in the least so he sighed in relief and disappointment.  
“I love you too, Dad.” He reached forward and rested his hand on the screen. John put his own hand to the screen and reached to end the call. “Dad.” John’s hand hovered over the kill switch.  
“What, Davy?”  
“I will see you again,” there was a moment of silence as the words sank in then David finished, “in the place where no shadows fall.” John felt the burning in his eyes and nodded a quick acknowledgment and somehow found the voice to reply.  
“I’ll be waiting.” Then his hand continued and killed the connection. John sat back in the captain’s chair and let the tears fall.  
David slumped momentarily and a single tear slid down his face. He’d been waiting for the call for a few weeks now, and he’d accomplished what he set out to do. He’d held it together for his father and still said goodbye. David Sheridan straightened, squared his shoulders, and left the captain’s office. He neglected to wipe away the tear, it was somehow comforting to feel its wetness on his cheek. He was on duty and refused to break down, and that one tear was all he allowed himself until his duty shift ended. He then retired to his bunk grabbed his gear and asked for permission to take out a fighter for a short time. The captain had approved without question, having received a com call from President Delenn.   
David took the fighter just outside the bays and kept pace with the ship. He turned off the link and only when he was sure no one could observe did he release his grief.

********************************B5***************************

A few days later Delenn lie in bed, hugging her husband’s pillow to her body, curled around in a fetal manner. She began to feel heavy and for a little while that felt like an eternity she hung there, not in pain, not at ease. Then abruptly there was a searing pain throughout her soul and tears streamed from her eyes though she didn’t notice them. The only thing she felt was pain for that eternal instant. When she came back to herself she heard the shrieks from the door beside her and footsteps in the hall. She rose from the bed and bolted to the connecting door. She opened it without thought and the sight that greeted her in the dim light was not unexpected.   
Her small son sat struggling with Susan to break free from her arms and he was screaming for his father. Delenn came forward with the tears still rolling down her face. His mental voice called to her just as urgently and frantic as he screamed for John. Susan, seeing her enter, finally let him go and Jade leapt from his bed into her arms. She pulled him close as she collapsed to her knees, finally coming to rest sitting with Jade in her lap. She buried her face in his soft hair even as he latched onto her and sobbed into her night dress. They stayed that way for some time crying together for their loss before Delenn noticed that her son’s and her own sobs were not the only ones she heard.  
She looked up to see Susan sitting on the bed staring at Jade, and sobbing as hard as they were. Delenn reached out to her and Susan eased over to them. She kissed Jade’s hair, one hand rested between herself and Jade on his back. The other Delenn herself took hold of as she returned her head to rest upon her son’s and let the anguish reign. They were oblivious to the two men and one Centauri Emperor in the doorway of Jade’s room. Garibaldi, Franklin and Vir watched their friends, knowing that they weren’t to be a part of this anguish. They didn’t leave for fear the three on the floor would need them, but neither did they interrupt their bereavement.  
A few minutes later the StellarCom in the den sounded and Garibaldi left them to answer it. He refused to allow Delenn and Jade’s mourning to be interrupted. They needed this so that they could move on. However, when the face came on screen he immediately had the call transferred to Jade’s room. He then went back to them.  
[Mother?] The deep voice questioned in Adronato. Delenn and Jade were just below camera range.  
Her shaky voice replied. “We are here, my son.” Garibaldi watched her try to pull it together to stand and tell her son that his father was no longer with them. Before she could he was in the room and had re-adjusted the angle of the camera. All she had to do now was turn and look at the screen.  
David now changed to Earth standard English, “I felt it too, Mother. I knew it was time. I just wanted to see you, to make sure you and Jade were okay.” His voice quit on him and Delenn turned then.  
“We will be, eventually, David. I’m sorry I didn’t inform you--”  
“It was his wish, Mother. You couldn’t go against it any more than I could. He called me himself. He didn’t say anything but I knew the reason and we had a good talk. It’s okay, Mom. I understand.” His voice was heavy with grief and as he said it Delenn turned away and began sobbing again, as she rocked her small son. “I wish I was with you, but I can’t leave yet. I’m almost finished with this cycle. It’s only a few more days, and I want to finish it. I need to, for myself. I’ll see you when I’m done.”  
“You will most likely have to meet us on Earth. We must tell your grandmother and Liz.” Delenn gasped between sobs, thinking how like John, David had become, so filled with duty. The captain of the Whitestar David was assigned to had asked her if she wanted him shipped home. She had said that it was up to David. He was an adult and would make the decision himself.  
“Damn, I forgot all about them. I can tell them if you like, I’m not going to be sleeping anytime soon, I’ll call them.”  
“No, David, I must do this. I doubt I’ll sleep soon either.” Delenn didn’t stop rocking Jade throughout the extended call to its end. Finally, she stood and walked with him into the other room to get a robe. She knew that it would be a while before the word would get out about John’s death. She would need to contact Nancy and Liz before then. She sat her listless son on the edge of her bed and proceeded to the closet to change. She didn’t think she’d sleep anymore tonight. She returned to find Jade curled up in John’s spot with John’s pillow clutched tight, not unlike the way she’d held it such a short time ago. He was wide awake and silent with tears still leaking from his red-rimmed eyes.  
She eased over and sat beside him. Her grief was still as potent as the anguish in his eyes so she didn’t try to comfort him with false words. She just held out her arms and he was in them instantly. Delenn rocked him for a while longer soothing the pain they both were experiencing. All the while she rocked her mind was pulling itself back into focus and as soon as she felt Jade sag into sleep she was up with a purpose in mind. She carried him out onto the veranda to watch the brilliance of colors that swept the sky clean of night. She cradled him to her as she watched the sun peek over the tips of the mountain backdrop of Tuzanor and let her mind regain its strength from the warm rays.

********************************B5***************************

The shuttle, carrying its important passengers with care, exited the Babylon 5 docking bay for the last time. The eight somber passengers watched out the viewports as their onetime home and the last best hope for peace and victory lit the darkness with a brilliantly profound silence. The small boy on her lap flinched as C&C ceased to exist, and Delenn wrapped her arms around him, pulling him back against her. Susan was piloting the shuttle with Garibaldi, and the rest sat silently after the transient demise, waiting for the Centauri Shuttle to collect Vir and Zack. The remaining passengers, including the bearded maintenance man, would rendezvous with the waiting presidential Whitestar. They would drop Garibaldi off on Mars to collect his family and then proceed to Earth to attend the family organized memorial for John. The maintenance man would be dropped at EarthDome to be assigned his next station.

********************************B5***************************

The group descended the ramp and were met by David Sheridan, who enfolded his mother and brother in a comforting hug. His girlfriend Anisa stood back from them understanding that this was their time. Susan greeted the young woman and tried to make her feel at ease, but being Ivanova it wasn’t easy. Her reputation preceded her even so many years after it was created. Still she was curious about the new love of her ‘nephew.’ She grimaced as Jade’s sobs could be heard again.  
Nancy and Liz had joined them by this time and Delenn was torn from her sons to hug her husband’s family. She was expecting to comfort them but found herself being comforted by just being with them. David lifted his younger brother off the ground and they joined the rest of their family.  
“Let me down, I’m too big for you to carry, David.”  
“Nah, I’m fine. Besides I told dad I’d look out for you and right now I think that you deserve to be carried.”  
Jade decided not to argue and hugged his brother. “Thanks Davy.” David smiled at him.  
The group hug between their grandmother, mother and aunt broke up and they went to the house. Jade squirmed out of David’s arms and took Ivanova’s hand as they passed. David put an arm around his girlfriend and walked with her as his mother walked with his grandmother. The house was full of Earthforce generals and Admirals, much as it had been when David, the elder, had passed two years ago. Most of the EA personnel present had served with or under John Sheridan. ISN was present also, but for once it appeared that they held compassion above getting ‘the story’.  
Jade returned to his mother’s side as the memorial started. He listened to what was said by people who’d known his father, but he didn’t really hear them. He was remembering things that his father had done with him here in this old farmhouse. Before he knew it the memorial was through and the crowds thinned until only close friends and family were left. David and Anisa had joined Stevie and Matt and their wives as had Mary Garibaldi. Lise and Garibaldi stood speaking with Elizabeth Lochley and her husband. Franklin and the rest were spread around speaking and remembering their friend.  
Avery walked up, almost out of nowhere, and asked Jade if he wanted to go out and play with other kids that were present. Jessie Ann, Lizzie’s now twelve year old daughter, was with him encouraging Jade to join them. He was unsure what to do. He didn’t really feel like playing, but he didn’t not feel like playing either. Lots of things these days were confusing like that. So as he’d taken to doing he looked to his mother for an answer. “Mom--” Delenn put a finger to her son’s mouth.  
“Go and play, Little One. Have fun.”  
“But--”  
“No, you should have fun. You can’t be sad forever. Go on. I will still be here when you come back.” He nodded and allowed his friend and his cousin to pull him outside after hugging her for a long minute more.  
It was later in the day than he would have thought. Time had seemed to hold during the memorial and Jade’s memories. The wind was chilling, but the other kids running around nearby didn’t seem to mind. “What do you guys want to do?” Jessie asked. Jade shrugged and looked around. He felt miserable.  
“Why don’t we just walk around for a while. Maybe go check out the club house. I bet the floor’s rotted through by now.” Jade encouraged finally.  
“What club house?” Avery asked.  
“Jessie and I built a club a couple years ago in the summer before Grampa died. He helped us even though he was sick.”  
“You let your sick grampa help you build a club.”  
“We didn’t know he was sick. Only Gramma knew that.” Jessie retorted in their defense.  
“Come on.” Jade set out toward the stream that his father had shown him on their first visit here. They foraged a path through the overgrown brush. “This place has really changed since Grampa passed. When we built the club you didn’t have to worry about scratches or anything ‘cause Grampa kept the brush cleaned up. Now no one does it.” Jade’s mood was quickly becoming morose.  
The three pressed on through the thick brush and finally found the stream. Jade walked down to the edge and dipped a hand into the water. As expected it was freezing cold. He dried his hand on his jacket and led the way to the tree house. The tree it was built in was not unfamiliar to Jade. This was where he and his dad had stopped for lunch the first time he’d ridden a horse. It looked the same as he remembered it too. Tall and thick with huge branches perfect for climbing. The small house sat nestled in the center built around the trunk of the giant oak.   
It was much the same as any other tree house. It had a main floor that was about ten feet square and then a smaller landing eight feet higher up in the branches. On one wall the window was larger and the branch just outside and slightly above it was outfitted with a rope and pulley. The rope was weather worn but looked okay.   
Jade took Jessie’s bag and set it in the basket. He then climbed up the tree clearing away spiders and empty bird nests as he went, so that Jessie wouldn’t be grossed out. He opened the door and went in to make sure no woodland creatures had taken up residence. He found a small squirrel in the loft, but the rest of the club was critter-free. Only cobwebs and dust inhabited the room. Testing the boards for rot, he made his way to the window, opened it and started to haul up the basket.  
“It’s okay up here, guys. Come on up. Jessie show Avery where the hand and foot holds are.” He yelled down.  
“Okay.” She sent back, and before too long the others were with him. “It’s kept up pretty well since last summer. I knew it was a good idea to re-shingle the roof. It kept the rain out.”  
“Yeah, and it was fun fixing it up with Dad.” Jade’s voice took on a distant tone. Jessie knew that the memories were playing in his head.   
“Uncle John knew all the best ways to keep the rain and stuff from getting in. He helped us fix the roof and replace the rotten floor boards.” Jessie informed her cousin’s friend.  
“Yeah, John was cool. Mom told me once that he was the most fun person she’d known in EarthForce Academy.” Avery watched his friend’s face settle even further into sorrow. He felt bad for Jade, he knew that he’d probably feel just the same if it were his father that had passed away. He walked over to where Jade stood looking out the large window to the stream below. “Whacha thinkin’ about, Jade?”  
“I wonder if my house is gonna start to feel empty like Gramma’s, since dad is gone. Gramma’s house just feels different since Grampa passed beyond. Will home feel that way now. Will the maze and the front garden get all over grown like this since dad’s not there? Will Mom get rid of all his stuff like Gramma got rid of Grampa’s things?”  
“I don’t know Jade, but if it does, is that so bad? You gotta keep goin’ no matter how much it hurts. That’s what mom and dad tell me. Your mom is gonna be there and you’ll take care of his stuff.”  
“I don’t think Aunt Delenn would get rid of his stuff, Jade. She knows that you like his stuff around. I bet she likes having his things there too.”  
“They make her sad.” He stopped and watched the water slip by for a moment. “The day before we left I was packing and I heard her crying again. I went to hold her and tell her it was gonna be okay, and when I saw her I froze and just watched. She was sitting on the bed with a pair of Dad’s socks. It had come in with the laundry, and mom was just hysterical over it. I didn’t understand why. A little while later I told her I’d seen her and asked why she was so upset.  
“She said that it was because that was the first time since they’d been married that any of dad’s socks had been laundered with the rest of their clothes. He always did them himself in the bathroom every evening and hung them over the tub to dry them. It had something to do with when he was in the academy, and that the only man that gets killed is the one that’s finished doing whatever he does and that he’d live forever cause he had socks to wash. I probably got it wrong, but it was something like that.  
“Mom said that everything had just hit her when she saw that he hadn’t washed his own socks.” Jade wiped the tears that had slipped down his cheeks. “I don’t really understand it, but the way she said it when she told me, I never want to hear her so sad again. Not ever, but I don’t know how to make it better.”  
Jessie walked over to join them and put a hand on her younger cousin’s shoulder. “I used to wonder that too. How I could make Gramma feel better when Grampa died? I asked my mom once, and she said that only time can make it better. That getting to a point where thinking of the person you lost doesn’t stab you in the chest and make tears jump to your eyes takes a long time. Especially if you loved someone as long and as well as Gramma loved Grampa, and like your mom loved your dad. She said that all we can do is be there and remind them that we love them.”  
“Now that I can do. I will never stop loving my mom.” He turned and settled into the small couch that they’d hauled up last summer. He sneezed as the dust irritated his nose after he plopped down, and then giggled.  
“I guess that you shouldn’t abuse the poor thing.” Jessie indicated the worn sofa. The three of them burst into laughter at her comment. Soon both nine year olds and the twelve year old were again composed and collected enough to just hang out and have a good time in spite of the sorrows that had brought them here.

********************************B5***************************

As the day moved on into evening Delenn sent her elder son to search for the younger. She wasn’t really worried about him, but would feel better knowing where he was. Neither he nor Avery nor Jessie Ann were playing with the other children in the field. She suspected she knew where they were, but wanted to be sure. Besides, Jade would have fun showing off his and Jessie’s handiwork to his brother.  
A short while later David returned and reported that the three of them were exactly where she’d thought. “They said they’d come back before dark, and they all have their coats on, so they won’t freeze to death.”  
“Thank you, David.”  
He gave her a lopsided grin. “My pleasure, Mother. They’ve got quite a hideout in that old tree.”  
“Yes, they worked for a long time on it last summer while we were here.” She smiled softly. “I think John had more fun out there than they did.”  
“I’ll bet.” David smiled again. His smile grew wide as Anisa walked over bearing a cup of tea for him. “Thank you, Nisa.”  
“You’re quite welcome.” She offered the other cup in her hands to Delenn. “I thought you both could use a little tea.” Her voice was hopeful as she held it out. Delenn smiled at her and graciously accepted. Maybe she’d been too hard on the girl over the Christmas holiday. ‘You’ll have to get the notion that he is still your little boy out of your head. He’s almost fully grown now, and it isn’t hard to see that he loves her. Oh, John, did you see this when you last talked to him. I hope you did.’  
“Thank you, Anisa. I am glad that David included you.”  
“Me too. Ma'am, I wanted to be here for him.”  
“Please, call me Delenn. I am not the president here.”  
Anisa looked to David, who was astonished but happy that his mother had put them both at ease. “Okay, Delenn.”  
They held a pleasant conversation after that, sometimes interrupted by others joining in, and sometimes telling stories of John for Anisa to laugh at. Eventually, true to his word, a red faced Jade returned with his cousin and his friend. He entered shucked his coat and made a bee-line for his mother. She pulled him close and kissed his wind chapped cheek.  
“I hope you had fun, Little One.” He nodded. “Are you hungry yet?”   
“Yep. We’ve been trying to clear up some of the brush that grew over our trail. We worked up a pretty big appetite.”  
“There is food on the kitchen table for dinner. Go make a plate and eat at the table.”  
“Of course, mom.” He shook his head. “I know better than to eat in Gramma’s den.” He kissed her again and went in search of the promised food. He returned a little later with a plate balanced in each hand. “Gramma said you need to eat too.” He placed one of the heaping dishes in her lap. “I agree with her.” The look he gave her said he wasn’t taking no for an answer. Delenn sighed defeat and began eating.

********************************B5***************************

Susan was finally getting settled in on Minbar. She walked out of her room and down the hall. As she passed the veranda she noticed Jade watching his mother where she sat admiring the brilliance of the sun’s ascendance.  
“Why don’t you join her, Dushenka?”  
“Because this is her time to be by herself with Dad. I’ll go out there later. Maybe I’ll go to the Temple and meditate this afternoon and watch the sunset, but mom needs her time alone right now.”  
“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind, sweetling.”  
“I know, but I would. I don’t want to intrude on her. I just want to watch for a minute and see her smile. She always does, you know. Right when the sun comes up and clears the mountains, she smiles like she used to when Dad was still here.” He turned away and walked with her for a bit. “I miss her smile, Susochke.”  
“I do too, but it’ll be back in time. She misses him like you do.”  
“No, not like me. I miss Dad a lot, but part of Mom died with him. She misses him but she misses that part of her too. It’s the same way that you miss Marcus. I just miss my dad, but you and mom miss the one greatest love you ever had.”  
Susan smiled at his nine year old wisdom. She understood all to well what he was trying to say. “Yeah, but we’ll be okay. We’ve still got you to love and watch out for us.”  
“Always, Susochke. See you in class later, okay. I don’t want to miss the smile.” He kissed her hand and trotted off the way they’d come. She watched him go. ‘I hope I’m right, Dushenka. Your mom lost more with your father’s passing than I did when Marcus left us. I hope she can pull through this.’  
{‘She will, Susochke. I’ll make sure that she does. It’s my job to take care of her now.’} Susan smiled at his matter-of-fact answer. She had little doubt that he would fail to pull Delenn through her depression.

********************************B5***************************

Delenn sat silently, feeling her husband’s presence leave her as the sun rose further. In the doorway Jade watched her smile fade slowly away as the sun cleared the mountains and its brilliance became more generalized and the colors left the sky.  
“Mom, can I sit with you for a while?”  
“Of course, you could have come out here at any time in the last half hour. I would not mind.”  
“But this is your time. I don’t want to bother you, and before you say it I would be bothering you. I don’t know why, but it just feels like it’s important for you to be alone out here when the sun’s coming up. I know it has something to do with dad, but I don’t know what, and I don’t really need to either. It’s for you and him. Just like when I play games on his terminal is for me and him. Thanks for not getting rid of it, by the way. I was afraid you would.”  
“I wanted to when we first returned, but I know how much you love to use it. I didn’t want to hurt you by removing it, and you are not a bother ever. Now come out here and sit with me.” He smiled and joined her on the cold metal bench.  
“I miss ya, mom. You work too much lately. I see Susochke more than you.”  
“I know. I’m sorry, Little One. I will try to make time this weekend to spend just the two of us.”  
“Okay. I understand, I guess, but I still miss having you around to talk to and watch cartoons with in the afternoon.” He snuggled against her, shivering as the wind blew across the balcony into them.  
“I miss you too. I’ll tell you what. After school today, come to my office. You can stay there with me until I finish with my paperwork, and we will walk home together.” He nodded, and she could see the elation in his eyes. ‘You need to get through this, Delenn. Your son is suffering a loss too. He misses his father as much as you miss your husband.’ She sighed and pulled him into her lap, holding him close, trying to still his shivers. “We will be okay, you know.”  
“I know, mama. It’s gonna take a while though. Sometimes I forget that he’s not here anymore, and I’ll be waiting all day to show him something and then I’ll get home and remember that he’s not here, and it hurts all over again. Or sometimes when you work late I forget that he won’t be in there when I wake up and I’m kinda surprised when your bed is empty it hurts then too. I guess that stuff just hurts sometimes, huh.”  
“Yes, this more than most things, my little one. Don’t forget that I am here though.”  
“I won’t as long as you promise to remember that I can help you too. I want to help you, mama. I know you miss Dad in a different way from me, but I know that it hurts just the same. At least, if I can’t make it better, I can cry with you. Then we wouldn’t cry alone all the time.”  
“Do you still cry, my son?” Delenn looked at him confused. She’d never heard him.  
He nodded softly. “I try to hide that I miss him so much, ‘cause I don’t want to make you sadder.” She could hear the tears in his voice even now.  
“Oh, my little love, I am sorry that I made you feel that way. Never worry that you will make me sad. Come to me and I will hold you and make it as better as I can.” She kissed his hair as he shivered again. “Don’t hide from me, even to protect me.”  
“Okay, I won’t.” He shivered again.  
“Let’s go inside before you become ill.”  
“I won’t become ill, but I am cold.” He got up and she took his hand leading him into the warmth of their home.

********************************B5***************************

Susan returned to the house after the ceremony to find Delenn and Jade in the kitchen laughing and enjoying themselves as they made dinner. She was surprised and delighted at the consistency of late. For the past two weeks Delenn had arrived home early enough to cook dinner with Jade. They’d been spending the time after dinner reading or doing Jade’s homework together. Truth be told she felt a little left out, but the sight of them both so happy again more than made up for any feelings of neglect.  
“Smells good in here. What’s on the menu tonight?”  
Laughing Jade informed her, “My earth history project.”  
“What is your project? It smells edible.”  
“It is edible. I’m making a model of a castle out of Flarn. The shape that Mom makes is perfect for the stone blocks used by medieval castle builders. We’re doing a model showing feudal society. Its my job to make the castle, and everything has to be edible.” He giggled and turned back to help his mother. “You wanna help us? We’re eating more than we use to build the castle.”  
“How are you going to make it stick together?”  
“Jade suggested we shape the castle then cook the flarn to keep it from coming apart. To get it to stay together while we build it I left the batter a little more tacky than I usually do. It is working wonderfully so far.”  
“Except that we keep eating the flarn before we can put it on the castle.”  
“Then what is for dinner?”  
“David and his girlfriend are coming later with take-out. Thanks for assigning him home for a little while, Susochke.” He looked up at her as he sneaked another of the cubes of flarn. Susan shook her head at him.  
“I’ll go change and then come help out.” She walked out of the room in higher spirits than she’d entered. Jade seemed to be accomplishing his goals to bring his mother back from her depression. They both were happier now than they had been since the Sunday that John had left. “Things are starting to look up around here.” She said as she made her way to change out of the robes of Anla’shok na.

End Transmission.

May god stand between you and harm  
In all the empty places where you must walk.  
\--An Ancient Egyptian Blessing--


End file.
